SOFT JUDGE OVERRULED
It took a fantastic combined effort to nail a fraudster who posed first as a builder and then a police officer to rip-off a vulnerable man.
There was the caring neighbour who alerted the police, staff at NatWest who blocked a money transfer and also contacted officers, and City of London Police who hunted down the crook.
And after all that there was the judge who let him walk free from court.
Michael O’Neill extracted £2,250 from the victim by claiming that vital building work was needed on his property.
He then got another £15,000 by posing as detective investigating his own building scam, and tried to get a further £75,000 for supposed legal costs.
Yet when 28-year-old O’Neill, from Dartford, Kent, appeared before Inner London Crown Court in July he walked away with a 21-month jail term suspended for two years.
Now I’m happy to say the sentence has been ruled unduly lenient after the Solicitor General stepped in and O’Neill has now been locked up for three years and one month.
“I am very pleased that O’Neill’s sentence has been increased following the referral to the Court of Appeal as it’s the justice the victim deserves,” said temporary Detective Constable Phillip Wilkes.
“This was a complex and convincing scam, thought to have been orchestrated by a number of fraudsters who preyed on an elderly, unwell victim.
“This case demonstrates that, whilst there are some bad apples in society looking to exploit the vulnerable, there are still many caring individuals willing to look out for one another and help the police in protecting our more vulnerable community members from crime.”