Norton pension crook handed suspended jail term

Former Norton motorcycles owner Stuart Garner has been given a suspended prison sentence for illegally investing pension schemes’ money into his business. He was also the sole trustee of the three pensions schemes which invested in Norton Motorcycles.

Following a prosecution brought by The Pensions Regulator (TPR), Stuart James Garner, 53, of Park Lane, Castle Donington, Derby was today (Thursday) sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for two years, for each of three counts of breaching employer-related investment (ERI) rules. He was also disqualified from acting as a company director for three years and ordered to pay TPR’s costs of £20,716.

Last month, Garner pleaded guilty to three charges of breaching ERI rules by investing most of the money of each scheme into his business, Norton Motorcycle Holdings Ltd.

Derby Crown Court heard how the offences related to three defined contribution schemes: Dominator 2012, Commando 2012 and Donington MC. The investments, made between 2012 and 2013, were made in return for preference shares. These shares were issued by Norton Motorcycle Holdings Ltd for which Garner was both the director and majority shareholder.

In her ruling, Her Honour Judge Nirmal Shant, told Garner that while she had given him full credit for his early guilty pleas, his actions had been reckless and caused profound harm to his victims - both financially and to their mental wellbeing, as well as damaging their confidence in pension saving.

She added that Garner’s victims had reported problems sleeping, relationship difficulties and some now faced the prospect of having to work longer than they had expected because of his crimes.

Judge Shant said: “This is not just financial harm. I have read