Woman posed as rich house buyer in £1,200 holiday park deception
A CONWOMAN stayed for almost a month at a caravan park with her mother and sister after posing as a wealthy house buyer who was about to move into a £300,000 home.
Robyn Sunley, formerly of Aberdare, claimed she was in the process of buying a house in Bude, Devon, and told the owners of the caravan park that the company would pick up the bill.
She said she was only staying at the site because of delays in moving into her new house and ran up a £1,195 bill before her lies were uncovered.
She also forged a cheque from her father’s former pub business in Aberdare to obtain £365 from a money shop in the town, claiming it was her wages.
Her father Robert had moved out of the Crown in Cwmbach and retired to Devon by the time she carried out the swindle, but she got her hands on one of the old cheque books.
The cheque bounced because the account was closed and police later discovered she had forged the signature on it.
Sunley, 23, formerly of Cwmbach but now of Briar Road, Bude, admitted two counts of fraud and was ordered to do 15 days rehabilitation activities as part of a 12-month community order.
She was also ordered to pay £1,195 compensation to the holiday park and £365 to Aberdare Cash Solutions by Recorder Ms Elizabeth Bussey-Jones at Exeter Crown Court.
She told her: “The holiday park is a small, familyrun firm, and therefore the loss to the business is all the greater.
“I have heard from the probation report how badly you feel and how you feel you have let people down. You say you acted emotionally and rashly towards the caravan park, perhaps motivated to assist your family.
“You made poor choic- es on the way.”
Joanna Martin, prosecuting, said the first fraud was against the Money Solutions shop in Aberdare in July 2014 .
Within a few days, Sunley booked herself, her mother and younger sister into the caravan park in Hedley Wood, paying £150 in advance for three days.
She went on to write another dud cheque for £245 and then concocted the story that she was in the process of buying a £300,000 Bovis home in Bude.
She said Bovis was footing the bill for staying at the caravan park because completion had been delayed. She gave the site owners a contact name, which was genuine, but a mobile number that turned out to be her own.
Miss Martin said: “When Bovis were contacted they said Sunley had come to look at a property but was never in possession of a house and did not follow it up.”
Greg Richardson, defending, said Sunley is working as a shop duty manager in Bude and living in rented accommodation with her partner.
He said she suffers from anxiety, depression and agoraphobia and had committed these offences while trying to help her mother and sister after they moved from Wales to Devon.