A gambler who claimed his van was stolen to make use of the insurance coverage payout to fund his behavior has been ordered to repay nearly £7,000.
Paul Edward Moyses should additionally perform 120 hours of unpaid work.
The 49-year-old carpet fitter’s plan got here undone after police stopped his automobile in Spalding and realised he was driving with quantity plates that had beforehand been de-registered from the automobile.
“On April 27 (2023) the defendant reported having his Transit van stolen from a layby the place it had damaged down,” prosecutor Turan Sunat advised Boston Magistrates’ Courtroom on Wednesday.
“For the worth of the van Hastings Direct paid him £6,071.”
On October 27 the defendant was stopped driving his van by police.
A roadside examine revealed the van’s index quantity matched that of a automobile that had beforehand been reported stolen.
“The defendant modified the registration plates to those beforehand belonging to the van,” Mr Sunat added.
“The rationale was he had made a false insurance coverage declare and he was masking his tracks’.
Moyses pleaded responsible to fraud by false illustration and fraudulently utilizing a registration mark.
In mitigation, Lisa Elkington stated Moyses had acquired a ‘severe get up name’.
She defined he had purchased the van from a scrap vendor to repair up, and when he got here to tax it the DVLA suggested he change the plate quantity.
“He made the insurance coverage declare to get cash to pay in direction of his playing habit,” Mrs Elkington continued.
“This was not a classy offence and he was caught fairly quickly after.”
A probation report advised the court docket Mpoyses had a ‘playing drawback for a few years’.
“Over the previous couple of years his habit has worsened and he would gamble day by day and gamble every little thing he earned,” the report continued.
“He owed about £2,500 to household and pals and felt pressured to pay individuals again.”
The report added Moyses had the assist of his accomplice who was serving to him struggle his habit, and that he had self excluded himself from his native bookmakers and blocked playing apps on his digital units.
For fraud by false illustration, Moyses, of Temple Grange, Werrington, Peterborough, was handed a 12-month group order, together with 15 rehabilitation days and 120 hours of unpaid work.
He should additionally pay £6,664 in compensation to Hastings Direct, to cowl the pay out and extra charges.
There was no separate penalty for the fraudulent registration plates.
