TURGOTT GAMBLING CASE IS DISMISSED IN COURT
MAIDSTONE UNITED winger Blair Turgott, who was accused of gambling £16,000 using a bank card stolen from a pensioner, has had the case against him dismissed. The ex-West Ham and England C forward claimed he was given the card to repay a debt after he withdrew two lots of gambling chips worth around £8,000 at the Playboy Casino in Mayfair, Southwark Crown Court heard earlier this month. Turgott cashed out £900 in profit at the end of the night in 2016 and denied fraud and converting criminal property, the court was told. Following a three-day trial, a jury of seven women and five men deliberated for five hours but could not reach a verdict. Recorder Louis Weston said: “In the circumstances I’m going to discharge you from reaching a verdict in this case.” The judge gave prosecutors a week to decide whether to pursue a retrial of Turgott but the case has now been dismissed. Prosecutor Kaj Scarsbrook had said the card used by Turgott was stolen from Peter Dixon on 30 September 2016. A man described as “white, mid20s” collected the 85-year-old’s debit card so a new one could be issued after Mr Dixon was contacted by someone posing as a Barclays Bank employee. Turgott says the card was given to him by a friend called Ali, who he went to casinos with after meeting through a friend. The former Bromley and Stevenage star leant Ali £16,000 for a job interview in property development in Uganda. Turgott says Ali delayed repaying him for around seven months until Ali gave him Mr Dixon’s card and PIN number, claiming it was his friend who was letting him use it because he lost his own one. Turgott admitted in court he was “confused” why the card had Mr Dixon’s name on it until he was “reassured” by Ali. As proof he had permission to use the card, Turgott was shown WhatsApp messages by Ali that said “bro I have sent the money”.