The Pensions Regulator has banned Stuart James Garner, 54, the former owner of Norton Motorcycles, from acting as a pension trustee again after he was found guilty of using pension fund money to invest in his failing business.

The ban came into effect in September.

Mr Garner was sole trustee of three pension schemes but he used money illegally from the schemes to invest in his business.

His actions led to a £10m shortfall across the schemes.

In March 2022 Mr Garner, of Castle Donington, Derby, was sentenced to eight months in prison, to run concurrently and suspended for two years, for each of three counts of breaching employer-related investment rules.

During sentencing at Derby Crown Court, Her Honour Judge Nirmal Shant, said Mr Garner had been reckless and caused profound harm to his victims, both financially and to their mental wellbeing.

Nicola Parish, TPR’s executive director of frontline regulation, said: “By taking money from schemes in his care to invest in his failing business, contrary to his duties as a trustee, Garner showed a lack of integrity, competence and capability. It is right he has now been banned from ever acting as a trustee again.

“Our focus remains on supporting the independent trustee in pursuing compensation for scheme members through the Fraud Compensation Fund.”

Mr Garner was also disqualified from acting as a company director for three years, which also prevented him acting as a trustee during the period of disqualification and he was ordered to pay TPR’s costs of £20,716.

With the company director ban due to end in 2025, in a report published on Friday TPR explained how it has now prohibited Mr Garner from ever acting as a trustee again following a decision by TPR’s Determination Panel (DP).

The panel found that Mr Garner was not a fit and proper person to be a trustee of trust-based pensions schemes as he lacked the integrity, competence and capability to hold such a position. The prohibition means it would be a criminal offence if he acted as a scheme trustee again.

The Regulatory Intervention Report set out that the TPR prosecuted Mr Garner for three breaches of employer related investment (ERI) rules when transferring nearly £11m from Donington MC Pension Scheme, Dominator 2012 Pension Scheme and Commando 2012 Pension Scheme into Norton Motorcycles.

The report also explains the work of other agencies involved in the case, including how:

• In June 2020, following a finding of maladministration, The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) issued a payment order against Garner of £15.7m (a sum factoring the schemes’ shortfall and additional factors, such as interest)
• Independent trustees appointed by TPR pursued Mr Garner for the £15.7m TPO award, resulting in his personal bankruptcy 
• Insolvency practitioners for Norton Motorcycles continue to investigate how much money can be recovered for the schemes following the eventual liquidation of the companies 
• The Fraud Compensation Fund has provided an “in principle” decision on eligibility to assist the independent trustees in submitting an eligible claim to the fund, on behalf of scheme members.