A mobile mechanic who took advance payments for vehicle repairs and parts that were never supplied has been jailed for two years and three months.
Mark Douglas Lowe, 47, of Poole, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on July 31 after admitting two charges of fraud by false representation. A further six similar fraud offences were taken into consideration by the court.
Lowe had advertised his services under the names Dorset & South West Mobile Mechanics Ltd, South Coast Mobile Mechanics Ltd and Mobile Auto Electricians Ltd.
– Mobile mechanic jailed for £22,000 fraud
– More than 20 customers affected
– Five-year ban on mechanic services
A mobile mechanic who took advance payments for vehicle repairs and parts that were never supplied has been jailed for two years and three months.
Mark Douglas Lowe, 47, of Poole, was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on July 31 after admitting two charges of fraud by false representation. A further six similar fraud offences were taken into consideration by the court.
Lowe had advertised his services under the names Dorset & South West Mobile Mechanics Ltd, South Coast Mobile Mechanics Ltd and Mobile Auto Electricians Ltd.
Police said he repeatedly demanded upfront payments for vehicle repairs and replacement parts before failing to complete the promised work or provide the components.
Customers paid cash upfront
In December 2024, Lowe visited a customer in Maidenhead who had requested repairs to his vehicle. Lowe quoted £750 for the work, including £350 for a replacement engine control unit, and received £250 in cash upfront. The customer did not receive the part and Lowe stopped responding to calls and messages.
In November 2025, a customer in Wincanton contacted Lowe after finding his mobile mechanic services advertised online. She paid £500 in cash after Lowe said he needed the money upfront to purchase parts, but the components were never supplied.
A wider investigation by Dorset Police identified another six similar fraud offences, which Lowe admitted and which were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Five-year mechanic services ban
Dorset Council’s Trading Standards team also investigated Lowe’s activities over a three-year period ending in July 2025.
It identified more than 20 victims across Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Cornwall, Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The total value of the offences was estimated at approximately £22,000.
Lowe was prosecuted for seven Trading Standards offences, including fraud by false representation, fraudulent trading and aggressively pursuing a customer.
The evidence gathered by Trading Standards, with support from Dorset Police, resulted in a five-year criminal behaviour order preventing Lowe from advertising or offering services as a mechanic. He was also disqualified from acting as a company director for five years.
Detective constable Nick Taylor, of Dorset Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: “Mark Lowe is a rogue trader who scammed a series of customers from around the country, taking their hard-earned money without any intention of supplying the parts they had paid for or doing the work he had promised.
“By working with our Trading Standards partners, we have ensured that he has been held accountable for his deception and measures have also been put in place to limit his opportunities to target further victims in the future.”
Martin Thursby, from Dorset Council’s Trading Standards, said: “Mark Lowe knew his customers all desperately needed their cars fixing but he did not hesitate in defrauding them without repairing any of their cars and leaving many in an even worse condition. It was clear the judge recognised the harm done by Lowe when he imposed a sentence of immediate imprisonment.”
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