HUDDERSFIELD businessman Jack Darrell Henry is to face more legal action.

The man convicted of breaching trading regulations will now face the wrath of many of his former employees.

Henry – who had his business practices labelled “sharp and shoddy” by a judge in January – is now being taken to an employment tribunal.

Fifteen of his former employees are taking action on March 30, claiming to be owed thousands of pounds by his companies, Council Tax Review and Reband (UK) Ltd.

Many more cases are being arranged for later in April.

The staff claim they were employed to sign-up customers wanting a reduction in their council tax, either by phoning them from their Huddersfield office or by visiting them at home.

Henry was sentenced to nine months’ jail, suspended for a year, and also ordered to pay £12,500 legal costs at Bradford Crown Court in January, after he admitted illegal trading.

His companies had promised to get council tax reductions for hundreds of people.

The court was told how Henry’s firm was guilty of breaching the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, by sending out misleading flyers, failing to make applications on behalf of clients and not making refunds to people who cancelled their contracts within the seven-day “cooling off” period.

The company, based at Fitzwilliam House, Fitzwilliam Street, was formerly known as Council Tax Review, but later became known as Reband (UK) Ltd.

Henry, of Huddersfield Road, Dewsbury, admitted 14 charges involving 12 complainants and later claimed he had been “over-zealous” after setting up Council Tax Review in 2009.

He insisted: “I’m not trying to hide. We’ve made some technical errors and we’ve been suitably punished for them.”

A spokesman for the Employment Tribunal Service in West Yorkshire confirmed that 15 complaints would be heard on March 30, starting at 10am, and more were expected to be listed on April 31.

West Yorkshire Trading Standards, which instigated the criminal proceedings, confirmed they have received more complaints about Henry’s firm and are investigating further.

At the time of the court case in January, they had a dossier of more than 680 complaints – many of them from pensioners.