Former director serving 7-year disqualification sentenced
John Hanbury, disqualified as a director in 2018 and convicted of drug offences in 2015, was sentenced today at Bradford Crown Court.
John Thomas Hanbury, 63, was today sentenced to 8 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and 150 hours of community work after having pleaded guilty to failing to keep adequate company records during his time as a director of Crownsbury Ltd.
John Hanbury had been appointed director of Crownsbury in 2016, and the company began operating a payroll processing bureau. The business went into administration in July that year but Hanbury failed to provide adequate accounting records to the Joint Administrators.
Further investigations by the Insolvency Service found various large payments could not be properly verified or explained, and in August 2018 John Hanbury was disqualified as a director for 7 years.
Prior to this John Hanbury had been found guilty of assisting in the supply of controlled drugs, receiving a suspended sentence which was still in force for this prosecution.
John Hansbury’s existing disqualification undertaking, which runs to 2025, means he cannot, directly or indirectly, be involved in the promotion, formation, or management of a company without the permission of the court.
Julie Barnes, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:
Company directors must fulfil their legal obligations and John Hanbury totally reneged on his responsibilities.
John Hanbury’s sentence clearly demonstrates that if rogue directors fail in their duties, they will be investigated by the Insolvency Service and could lose the privilege of limited liability trading or ultimately risk facing a criminal prosecution.
Notes to editors
John Thomas Hanbury is of Bradford and his date of birth is June 1958.
Crownsbury Ltd company number: 4191092.
The sentence result was announced at Bradford Crown court on Wednesday 29 September.
Disqualification undertakings are the administrative equivalent of a disqualification order but do not involve court proceedings.
Persons subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of restrictions.
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