An estate agent who killed a stranger with a single punch has today been banned from the industry.
Sean Boggans was jailed for four years in 2013 for the crime.
Boggans, of Chelmsford, Essex, clashed with Shaun McDermott as he tried to hail a taxi home from a party.
Boggans punched Mr McDermott in the face. He fell to the ground, hitting his head on the pavement and died in hospital.
Boggans denied manslaughter but was convicted by an Old Bailey jury.
Today, an order banning him from estate agency work has taken effect after successful legal action by the National Trading Standards Estate Agency Team (NTSEAT).
Sean Boggans had been given a prohibition order under Section 3 of the Estate Agents Act 1979 after he was convicted.
After receiving oral and written evidence, an NTSEAT adjudicator found that the nature of the offence against a person who Boggans had not previously met demonstrated that he was a person who was unfit to carry on estate agency work. The prohibition order was issued against Boggans on 10 November 2015.
However, Boggans filed a notice of appeal on 9 December 2015 against the decision but the NTSEAT applied to strike out the notice of appeal earlier this year on the grounds that there was no reasonable prospect of Boggans’ case succeeding.
At the First-Tier Tribunal, representations from both parties were considered before HH Judge Peter Wulwik. The judge agreed with the NTSEAT that there was no reasonable prospect of Boggans’ case succeeding and struck out his appeal, adding that the circumstances and seriousness of Boggans’ offence could not but lead to the conclusion that he posed a real risk to the public and was unfit to carry on estate agency work.
James Munro, head of NTSEAT, said: “This was an important case for us as the judge also made it clear that the fact that a person has been punished in criminal proceedings for an offence does not prevent us from then considering whether the person is unfit to carry out estate agency work.”
Cllr John Powell, Powys County Council’s Cabinet Member for Trading Standards, said: “This was an important hearing for the NTSEAT and we are delighted that the judge agreed with us and struck out the appeal by Mr Boggans.
“Since April 2014, we have been the UK’s lead enforcement authority for the Estate Agents Act 1979 and one of our duties is to prohibit individuals and/or businesses who are deemed to be unfit to engage in estate agency work.
“Section 3 of the Act allows us to issue a prohibition order where a person has committed an offence involving fraud or other dishonesty, or violence.
“This should serve as a warning to other estate agents in the country that if they commit an offence involving fraud or violence they could be added to the public register and prohibited from carrying out estate agency work.”
So much for the courts bringing the balance between punishment and rehabilitation for a guilty person, this guy is being punished again! Whilst the circumstances for the victim and their family are awful, death by a single punch does necesarilly mean this guy is a menace to society for ever.
I’d far rather my daughter was shown to a viewing by this man, than some of the sexist, misogynists that are out there.
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Sean was a good estate agent and one moment of madness as tragic as it ended should not be a reason to ban him from earning a living.
There are far worse people plying a trade in this industry how about banning some of those who cheat, lie, misappropriate funds, put peoples lives at risk by ignoring safety legislation,
Oh I forgot that’s to much like hard work, easier to go after a soft target who has already been punished for his crime and I’m sure regrets everything that happened.
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I am sure he does regret it but in the public interest its probably the best thing he does not work in the industry.
I for one would not like my wife to be viewing, one on one with a chap in an isolated house where he obviously has issues in controlling his feelings.
If anything did happen, the employer, our industry the courts will have been asked how it was allowed to happen.
Hopefully it will also act as a warning to others that actions have consequences.
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Does this not set a dangerous precedent, where would the line be drawn for exclusion from the industry? Drug mule, causing death by dangerous driving, domestic violence? Not entering into the right or wrongs of this case, but I am sure that with over 100,000 employees in the industry, there are some chills going down spines reading this.
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To be honest VTUK if i had on a CV somebody who had killed with dangerous driving or beaten their partner i would not employ them. I would think many other owners would think the same.
Banning him from the industry makes sure he does not apply for such positions otherwise he will be in further trouble, and locally agencies will know who he is and not employ him.
And its great news if there are people reading this and worried about their own situation, shows the courts have got it right. We are a professional industry and are in trusted positions with owners keys and peoples safety (staff, buyers, sellers, tenants and landlords). This should not be tolerated.
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You are obviously an angel you paint someone you do not know as a monster which I can assure you he is not, I agree violence is not to be tolerated in any walk of life but if someone broke into your house and you confronted them and the intruder was harmed in a fatal way does that make you a bad estate agent or someone who is a risk to the public and banned from the industry, and a risk of doing your job correctly?
Some in this industry have very short memories.
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new life –
In fairness to smile please, the ‘painting’ you refer to has been done long ago, both by the press coverage (which is what we see reported here on EYE), and by the judgement against Mr Boggans.
If you know better – then speak up. We have nothing else to go off other than what we see/hear.
Such is life, I’m afraid…
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Oh – I’m totally OTF with this one.
smile please – I applaud your reasoning for wanting our industry to rid itself of those who are unfit to work within it. I’m with you every step of the way on that point, as you know – proud to be your wingman.
However…
I can see no report anywhere that Mr Boggans was a wrong’un. This appears to have been an isolated incident which tragically resulted in the death of another.
To say that Mr Boggans “killed a stranger with a single punch” is as factually incorrect as it is correct. A single punch was thrown – that is undisputed. However the punch was not technically the CoD from what I can see – it appears that the victim’s head striking the pavement was.
Had the chap rode the blow, or got up from it and given his assailant a good going over, then there would have probably never been anything to report – or people would have been having a good laugh over a story on page 42 of the local rag that a bloke had kicked the 5h!t out of some poncy Estate Agent.
Fate is a *****.
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* Fate is a female canine *
Thanks, smutfilter – yet you let #completebunchoftwats through on another article… funny old world.
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The really sad fact is there are so many people out there who work in a very public position who are very dangerous to the public, and even worse they are business owners! Not only do they put the public at risk, but also their employees.
There’s one example very close to my heart who unfortunately is the worst of the worst, who works as an agent. Having been the director of multiple agencies, he eventually came back to the town where he made his name, in the very same town where his victims live and have to deal with each and every day.
He’s a woman beater, and the reason I know is because my family was his victim.
I’d love to say that he’s a changed man, but he’s not. And what makes it worse, his employees and his clients are none-the-wiser. In my opinion, he should be banned.
Ironically I am also an agent, so luckily I know fellow agents in the area know of his appalling reputation…if only everyone knew…then they’d be saved from such a bully!
Anyway, my personal beliefs aside. Whether it was once or not, if anyone poses a threat, they do, unfortunately, have to deal with the consequences.
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Also, are we to believe that anyone who punches anyone cannot be an estate agent? That would explain why my history as a streetfighter was impeding my route to the estate agency market.
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