Gatwick airport parker 'used photo of Scottish hospital to dump cars in fields ...

Asad Malik, 38, from Crawley allegedly used websites in broken English to dupe holidaymakers into paying for car parking services

Asad Malik, 38, from Crawley allegedly used websites in broken English to dupe holidaymakers into paying for car parking services

A Gatwick Airport parker allegedly used a photo of a hospital 400 miles away to trick travellers into thinking their cars were safe when he dumped them in muddy fields in a £1m scam. 

Asad Malik, 38, made claims in broken English on two websites in a bid to fool people into using London Parking Gatwick and another service called Easy Meet and Greet Gatwick, Lewes Crown Court in Brighton heard.

The jury were shown a picture of a car park of the Borders General Hospital in Melrose, in Scotland, which Malik was said to have passed off as one of his secure locations.

But one owner was alerted to the con when he saw his MINI on a TV news bulletin while he was in Spain.

Another alleged victim's car had clocked up 185 miles while he was abroad and other cars had unpaid parking tickets. 

Malik used a handful of muddy fields not far from the Gatwick runway and some were also sat outside a mosque in the area.

Trading Standards found hundreds of cars at several locations parked in muddy fields and amongst bushes.

Others were left unlocked with windows open and keys were left in plastic wallets stuck to the windscreen.

Some cars came back damaged and others were not returned at all, the jury were told.

The websites claimed the cars would be parked in secure compounds with CCTV by valets.

One of the muddy fields close to the Gatwick runway where Asad allegedly kept cars which he said were in secure, CCTV monitored compounds maintained by valets

One of the muddy fields close to the Gatwick runway where Asad allegedly kept cars which he said were in secure, CCTV monitored compounds maintained by valets

When Trading Standards Officers went to the sites, they found no gates, fencing or CCTV. 

Richard Heller prosecuting said: 'Malik traded through the named companies in such a way that people were defrauded into paying for parking services to have been of an entirely different quality and character than the reality.

'When you are in the right, when you are in the wrong or quite simply when you are being dishonest or misleading, if your site doesn't have CCTV or you don't own the facilities when you claim you

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