A ROGUE trader who laundered thousands of pounds for the Travelling community from scam operations has been spared jail.

James Bicknell, 27, of Rothesay Road, Blackburn, ran scams in Cheshire East and other parts of the north west.

He was sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, with 100 hours’ unpaid community work and a three-month curfew at Chester Crown Court on May 6.

He had pleaded guilty to two offences related to money laundering at an earlier hearing.

Bicknell had laundered more than £34,000 – obtained through rogue trading activities – through his bank account on behalf of the Traveller community.

One victim, from Crewe, handed over a cheque for £8,000 for home improvement work.

The work was never done but Bicknell banked the proceeds on behalf of the scammers, taking part of the payment for his ‘service’.

He was brought to justice following an intensive operation by the Cheshire East Council’s trading standards enforcement team and the authority’s financial investigator.

By tracing further payments, credited to Bicknell’s bank account, the team identified a number of other payments across the north west, which led to the identification of further victims.

The council’s enforcement team closed down the operation but Bicknell, from Blackburn in Lancashire, had evaded punishment until finally appearing in court in Chester last week.

The money laundering scam went on for 10 months, much of it in Cheshire East, before enforcement teams shut down the network.

The enforcement team discovered that Bicknell had also been taking a slice of the payments.

Cllr Paul Bates, cabinet member for communities and health, said: “I congratulate our team in bringing this man to justice.

“Money laundering is a serious crime and removing people like Bicknell from their illegal activities has an impact on many others who are channelling their ill-gotten proceeds through his bank account.

“Cheshire East is an enforcing authority and this conviction and sentence sends out the message that we will act on behalf of our residents to eliminate activities of this nature.”