An art dealer from Hayle has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 2 two years, ordered to undertake 200 hours of community service and to pay £50,000 towards prosecution costs, after entering guilty pleas to seven charges of fraud at Truro Crown Court.

David Carter, 57 of Prospect Close, had initially denied claims that he deliberately sold cheap imitations as genuine works of art. He had also denied deliberately exaggerating the value of paintings supposedly by famous artists such as Alfred Wallis and John Brett.

When before the court today today (July 16), Judge Harvey Clarke said that Carter had been running a fraudulent business and described him as a “commercial shipwreck” who will no longer be trusted by other art dealers.

The court heard that Carter bought paintings for as little as £300 from "unreliable sources" such as an eBay seller who traded as “Timeless Tat” and used the email address “anyoldtat.” He then advertised them for sale through his gallery or via his website describing them as being by well-known artists and with a price tag of up to £65,000 - a potential mark-up of 20,000 per cent.

The prosecution, brought by Cornwall Council Trading Standards, followed a three year investigation and was described by Judge Harvey Clarke as “remarkable and brave.”

The investigation also involved specialist investigators from the National Trading Standards South West Scambuster Team, expert witness evidence from several established art experts and scientific evidence from art forensics laboratory Art Analysis and Research (AA&R), London.