INSPECTOR WAYNE9 SOLVES ROODUNIT
Star’s autograph nets crook
WAYNE Rooney turned crimebuster to help snare a football fraudster who made £1million selling fake memorabilia.
The ex-England captain provided an autograph for detectives to prove a Manchester United shirt sold by conman David Rennie for £150 did not bear his real signature.
The star, now with Everton, was shown faked scrawl and was certain he had not signed it. He then gave Dorset Trading Standards a copy of his signature so they could prove the handwriting was not his.
Rennie, 46, from Banbury, Oxon, was convicted of running a fraudulent business over nine years and transferring criminal proceeds to his bank account following a trial at Bournemouth Crown Court. One mum paid £300 for a signed Thierry Henry shirt to cheer up her son after his father died. But in reality Rennie was buying replica shirts from high street shops and using a permanent marker pen to put fake autographs on them. He was caught after investigators received complaints about Rennie’s online business, FA Premier Signings. He was warned by Judge Peter Crabtree he faces a long jail sentence. His estranged wife Clare, 45, admitted her part in the con. Rennie spent some of the money on Florida trips, once taking £10,000 with him.