A Lincoln scammer suffering from problem gambling, who deliberately deceived 85 people by selling them non-existent tickets to events, has faced conviction but managed to avoid getting an imprisonment sentence.
The gambling addict, Jesse Wilkinson, won the trust of the victims by approaching them on Facebook and chatting with them over the platform. The chats usually started with him sympathising with the people when they missed out on tickets for in-demand events.
Prosecutor Jeremy Janes revealed that the scammer needed the money to fund his gambling habit that had deteriorated so much he found it hard to control it while he was seeking how to recover his losses. During the court hearing, he explained that the fraudster scammed a total of 85 people over a period of almost two years before he was finally arrested by police. Prosecutor Janes also revealed that Wilkinson used Facebook almost exclusively to advertise his “services”.
He would contact the victims and gain their trust by saying how sorry he was for the ones who had been unable to get tickets for in-demand events. Then, he would use various excuses and explanations to finally suggest he could get them some. Wilkinson would also suggest there were many scams, so he would initially ask the victims to provide only part of the money. The scheme went for almost two years – from the summer of 2018 to March 2020.
Gambling Addiction and Spending of the Fraudster Got Out of Control
A police inquiry began after one of the victims complained about what happened. When Wilkinson was asked for an explanation, he made a full confession of his wrongdoings.
The prosecutor explained that the investigation found the fraudster to be suffering from gambling addiction which had gotten out of control. Wilkinson obviously thought that making one more bet would help him compensate for all of his losses and recover the amounts given to him by the scam victims.
The 24-year problem gambler admitted five charges of fraud and asked the court to take into consideration a further 78 similar offences. The overall amount of the money taken by the victims as a result of the fraud was £9,000.
In mitigation, the legal representative of Mr Wilkinson said that the young man fully confessed his wrongdoings and has shown he was sorry for what he did. The court also heard that the fraudster started gambling in arcades in his teenage years and then started betting on football matches. Later, casino gambling made him an avid gambler who found it hard to control his gambling habits.
Things escalated so much that Wilkinson took out a number of payday loans. As for the scam, he had been creating fake tickets and sometimes even sent an image of the tickets online to the victims.
The court’s decision involved a six-month jail sentence. This sentence, however, was suspended for two years, with the court imposing a three-month night-time curfew that is set to be monitored electronically. Wilkinson will also have to pay compensation of £4,150 to the victims, each of whom will receive £50.
- Author
Daniel Williams
