OXFORD computer expert Colin Whittall was jailed for nine months for promoting a hi-tech device to 'clock' car mileage readings.

Whittall invented a device the size of a calculator which could tap into cars' digital dashboards and alter the odometer readings.

He even made an appearance on BBC2's Top Gear with the device, which he promoted at prices ranging from £450 to £750.

Whittall, 35, of Harcourt Hill, North Hinksey, pleaded guilty at Shrewsbury Crown Court to inciting members of the public to commit offences under the Trade Descriptions Act, and to an offence of evading a liability by deception between August 1, 1997, and February 4, 1998. Charges against his wife Paula, 33, were left on file. Sentencing him, Judge Michael Mander said Whittall had invented a "diabolical" device and he had a duty to the public to jail him.

He said: "Clocking cars is an enormous evil. One of its consequences is to deprive decent, honest, hard-working people of money they can ill afford to lose by telling them they are buying a car for a reasonable price when in fact it has much higher mileage."

Peter Moss, prosecuting,told the court Whittall was an experienced computer software developer who had worked in the early and mid-1990s on digital dashboards for cars.

Mohammed Latif, defending, said his client's device did have a legitimate use to access and alter other information held by digital dashboards.

Story date: Tuesday 15 February

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