Fraudster escapes jail after theft bid with cloned card

denied the charges but then changed his plea to guilty when he was due to stand trial.

The court was told that he was jailed for one month following a fraud conviction at Bolton Magistrates’ Court in 2012.

The following year Stockport magistrates also jailed him for fraud and these offences were “identical and involving cloned cards and attempts to put numbers into the till”, Mrs Seddon said.

In February 2016 Crinion was again jailed by Derbyshire magistrates for fraud and jailed for 16 weeks.

He was released weeks before he committed the new offences in Huddersfield and subject to post-sentence supervision at the time.

Crinion claimed that he was struggling for cash and committed the offences to pay off a drug debt.

He said he was driven to the town and ordered to use the cloned card and was not responsible for sourcing it.

Deputy District Judge Wajeed Khalil told him: “These offences are part of a series of offences on your record relating to fraudulent use of cloned cards.

“You committed the offence within a very short period of your release last year but to your credit you have been offence free for 17 months and have some stability.

“I’m not going to impose immediate custody to give you the chance to make progress and remain offence free.”

Crinion was instead sentenced to a 26-week suspended prison sentence and ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

He must pay £115 court costs and £115 victim surcharge and the cloned card will be forfeited and destroyed.