UK brothers jailed over 'Lapland' scam

Two brothers who conned thousands of customers into visiting a Lapland theme park near the UK sea resort of Bournemouth by falsely promising a "winter wonderland" have been jailed for 13 months each.

Victor and Henry Mears billed their attraction as a delightful, snowy Christmas kingdom featuring picturesque log cabins, a bustling market, reindeer and even polar bears. But, instead of a wonderful festive treat, visitors who came from far and wide to Lapland New Forest found mud, wooden buildings with the "lightest possible dusting" of fake snow, and a broken ice rink.

The case first made headlines in the British press in 2008, when the park opened. Almost immediately, disgruntled customers flooded the trading standards office with complaints. Less than a week later, the attraction closed, with the brothers blaming the media and sabotage by "New Forest villains" for the decision.

But the law thought otherwise. Judge Mark Horton, at Bristol crown court, compared the attraction to a car boot sale and told the brothers, "You promised customers in your advertising an amazing snow-covered Lapland village which was - in your own wonderful words - 'Where dreams really do come true' and 'Where we have prided ourselves on attention to detail'.

"You told consumers that it would light up those who most loved Christmas. You said you would go through the magical tunnel of light, coming out in a winter wonderland. What you actually provided was something that looked like an averagely managed summer car boot sale."

Visitors were charged £30 a ticket and with up to 10,000 advance bookings online, the Mears brothers were set to gross £1.2 million overall.