Serial conman fleeces licensees
It is thought that the serial offender is fleecing publicans out of £200-£300, and travels the country to commit the offences, favouring small inns in market towns.
He will also try to gain access to private areas and to adjoining properties to steal cheques, chequebooks, cash and jewellery.
PC Matt Speechley from Dorset Police said: “When the offender books into a pub for lodgings he will often know the layout of the premises, saying that he has frequented it previously.
“He also likes to pretend he will return soon to book more rooms.”
PC Speechley described the offender as a slim, white male, around 55 years of age, with very short grey hair. He has a pale complexion and is about 5ft 10in tall. Speechley added that the conman has a very broad Yorkshire accent and uses addresses in Scunthorpe and Leeds. He has been known to dye his hair and wear glasses as a disguise.
The last offence Dorset Police are aware of took place at the Britannia Inn in Sherborne on 18 January.
Licensee John McLoughlin of the Britannia Inn said: “The man had booked in for a two-night stay but come the second night, he had disappeared. He said that he had been here before and asked if he could pay his bill the next day because that’s when he was going to get paid. As he could describe some of the bar areas very well, it sounded like he had been here a few times, so I agreed. It is very rare for us to allow that, but it’s been OK in the past.
“I’d ask other publicans to be on their mettle and make sure they stick to a policy of taking payment up-front.
“The man even offered us a drink on his own tab. He was very good at making things up and at convincing people.”
Police are currently waiting for results of a DNA test before releasing a photograph of the offender.
How the Publican foiled ‘parasitic’ conman who preyed on landlords
In 2004 the Publican was responsible for the capture of a conman who fleeced licensees out of thousands of pounds. Ben St James, 48, was caught at the White Horse in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Cleveland, after licensee Dave Craven saw a picture of the offender in the Publican.
He had been targeting small village pubs with accommodation, booking a number of rooms for months at a time and building up huge tabs using stolen chequebooks.
St James, also known as David Brown, was sentenced to six years in prison.
During the case in September 2004 he admitted 11 charges of theft and fraudulent use of a chequebook and asked for 120 further offences of a similar nature to be taken into account. This included theft from the Red Admiral, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset and making out a fake cheque for £2k at the Port Cullis Hotel in Chipping Sodbury, Glos.
When he was being sentenced it was revealed that St James had committed similar offences since the 1970s. He was described as a ‘parasite’ who preyed on pub landlords.
- The Publican’s Morning Advertiser is working with the police to catch this man. Have you been targeted by this scam? Let us know by emailing thewvg.qrtha@jeoz.pbz.
