Drug user in £15,000 bank con bid is spared jail

Leroy Gardner was foiled by staff at the Santander branch in West Bromwich High Street, a judge was told.

The 52-year-old grandfather asked them to move the cash from the business account of another man into one of his own on May 6, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

He showed them a driving licence which carried his photo but was in the name of the other person whose debit card together with a gas bill were also handed to the staff, said Mr Edward Soulsby, prosecuting.

They immediately spotted that the signature strip was in the wrong place on the bogus card and alerted police who arrested the defendant, it was said.

Mr Soulsby revealed that father-of-five Gardner had previous convictions for conspiracy to deceive and forgery and concluded: "This offence showed some degree of sophistication and planning."

Mr Babir Adris, for the defendant, an unemployed delivery driver, said: "He has had a problem with crack cocaine for the past 35 years. He lost his job in 2010 and since then has struggled to balance his drug addiction with commitments to his family.

"He accrued a drug debt and was told by those to whom he owed the money that the only way to settle the matter was to carry out this crime. He has now cleared the debt by borrowing from friends and family and is trying his best to rid himself of these dreadful drug problems."

Gardner from Cobden Gardens, Birmingham admitted fraud and possession of articles for use in connection with fraud and was given a 16 month prison sentence suspended under supervision for two years with 180 hours unpaid work.

Judge Martin Walsh told him: "Fortuitously the attempted fraud was noticed by bank staff and did not succeed. In the circumstances of this case I can suspend the inevitable sentence of imprisonment."