Former Stanton Bonna chief executive Barry Kenneth Cooper has appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court to face charges of market rigging.

Above: Barry Cooper

He was charged today under section 188 of the Enterprise Act 2002, the criminal cartel offence, following an investigation by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA).

Mr Cooper has been charged with dishonestly agreeing with others to divide supply, fix prices and divide customers between 2006 and 2013 in respect of the supply in the UK of precast concrete drainage products. The alleged arrangements related to the businesses Stanton Bonna (UK) Ltd, FP McCann Ltd, CPM Group Ltd and Milton Pipes Ltd.

Mr Cooper, chief executive of Stanton Bonna until March 2013 and a former chairman of the Concrete Pipe Association, is due to appear at Southwark Crown Court on 4th April 2016 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.