Conmen ‘bullied’ OAP for £10,000
Victim fleeced of cash and burgled
A MAN in his 80s was exploited, bullied, fleeced of cash and then burgled after being befriended by conmen, a court heard.
As well as stealing £10,000, the fraudsters got away with a pocket watch given to the victim by his dying father. A judge said the victim had been subjected to “persistent and unrelenting bullying”.
A MAN in his 80s was exploited, bullied, fleeced of cash and then burgled after being befriended by conmen, a court heard.
As well as stealing £10,000, the fraudsters got away with a pocket watch given to the victim by his dying father.
A judge said the victim, Brian Clarke, had been subjected to “persistent and unrelenting bullying” during the scam.
Swansea Crown Court heard Mr Clarke, who is now 89, met a man called Richard Patrick O’Brien in Whitland, in May 2015.
Ian Wright, prosecuting, said 27-year-old O’Brien introduced himself as a scrap metal merchant, and Mr Clarke told him he had an old Citroen vehicle that needed disposing of.
The following day O’Brien and his wife attended Mr Clarke’s farm near Carmarthen, and he told his victim that his 43-year-old brother-inlaw Richard Coffey had a lorry they could use to transport the scrap.
This was to begin weeks of farm visits and requests for money from O’Brien and Coffey, starting with £3,000 to repair Coffey’s truck, rising to £20,000 for a deposit on a house O’Brien wanted to buy.
The court heard Mr Clarke eventually agreed to loan O’Brien and Coffey £10,000, and an agreement was drawn up “on a scrap of paper”.
However, the day after writing the cheque Mr Clarke began to have concerns about what he had done, and went into his bank in Carmarthen to cancel the cheque – when he returned home he found Coffey was there, and the defendant tore up the cheque in front of him.
The court heard Mr Clarke found some £12,500 in a briefcase had been taken from his house – though the exact details of the burglary are not known, and nobody has been charged with it.
Mr Wright said O’Brien and his wife continued to make visits to the farm, and O’Brien then asked his victim for £20,000 as a deposit on a home for the couple – O’Brien told him if he loaned him the sum for a short period he would pay it back plus the £12,500 taken in the burglary plus £2,000 interest.
The prosecutor said Mr Clarke felt he was being “continually bombarded” by requests for money from O’Brien, and in June “succumbed” to the pressure and agreed a loan.
On June 27 O’Brien “escorted” his victim “with some slight force” to his bank where a £10,000 transfer was arranged.
The court heard bank staff declined a request to transfer £20,000 and told Mr Clarke there was a £10,000 a day limit - in fact they were concerned about what was going on.
A second £10,000 transfer was scheduled for another day, but Mr Clarke cancelled it.
Mr Wright said O’Brien used the £10,000 that was transferred as payment on a £55,000 Winnebago mobile home.
Matters then moved to the evening of January 31, 2016 - Mr Clarke heard a banging on the window.
An upset looking Jay Radford – also known as Jay Evans – was outside, and he told the pensioner his mother was desperately ill in hospital and he needed to see her before she passed away.
Mr Clarke drove 38-year-old Radford to Glangwili, but Radford disappeared – the victim realised he had been set up. When he got back home he found the back door had been kicked in, and the house burgled again. Suitcases containing personal documents had been taken, as had jewellery including a silver watch handed down to Mr Clarke by his father.
Another pocket watch, gold and worth around £2,000, was also taken.
The trio were arrested with O’Brien and Coffey both giving “no comment” interviews to officers.
Radford made full admissions in interview.
O’Brien, of Cameron Place, Gorseinon, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud and one count of burglary – the distraction burglary of January 31. Coffey, of Morriston Crescent, Port Talbot, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of fraud, and Radford, of Southdown Road, Port Talbot, to one count of burglary for his part in the events of January 31.
Judge Geraint Walters said he had no doubt Mr Clarke was the victim of “persistent and unrelenting bullying” by O’Brien and Coffey. He sentenced O’Brien to a total of two years in prison, and Coffey to 18 months. Radford was sentenced to 14 months.
Life-long restraining orders were made banning the trio from contacting their victim.