THE owner of a Cotswold-based scrap-metal business has been sent to prison for lying to the High Court.

Wychavon District Council took action against Joseph Grantham Gilder, aged 40, of the Pippins, Back Lane, Oddington, Moreton in Marsh, following a court case in November last year.

Gilder, the owner of Joe Gilder, a scrap-metal merchants based in Bourton-on-the-Water, was a witness in the case against Mr John Bruce of Ridgeway Park Farm, Long Lane, Tilesford, Throckmorton and the Crabbe Yard, Wadborough.

Gilder claimed to have bought Ridgeway Park Farm from Mr Bruce in March 2016.

However, during the trial in November 2016, His Honour Judge Rawlings found that the sale of the land could not be substantiated.

Gilder claimed that his other company Copper Star Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands, had purchased the land from Mr Bruce on March 29, 2016.

However, the company had been struck off and ceased to exist in November 2015.

On Monday, June 12, at the High Court in Stoke on Trent, Gilder was found in contempt of court and was sentenced to 28 days in prison for lying in the High Court.

No evidence was put forward to prove that the sale had taken place or that the alleged purchase price of £320,000 had in fact changed hands. As well as his 28-day prison sentence, Gilder was also ordered to pay Wychavon District Council’s costs of approximately £7,000.

The case against Mr Bruce continues and has been adjourned until August 9. Wychavon District Council is seeking to trigger a suspended 12-month prison sentence that was handed down to Mr Bruce by His Honour Judge Rawlings in January 2017 for failing to comply with a court order.

The council served an injunction against Mr Bruce for failing to comply with two enforcement notices served in November 2013. The case centres on the use of the former airfield site and agricultural land for the sale of non-agricultural vehicles, plant and machinery, and the importation and storage of waste materials.