A MAN and a woman involved in passing hundreds of pounds worth of fake Scottish £20 notes at shops in Leamington and Coventry have both been jailed.
Simon Bennett and Jade Harris had both pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to a charge of tendering counterfeit currency.
The court heard Harris had also been convicted of two similar charges following trials at magistrates’ courts in Leamington and Wellingborough.
Harris (25) of Sylvanus House, Kiln Way, Wellingborough, and Bennett (33) who is currently serving a prison sentence, but formerly of Key Drive, Wigston, Leicester, were both jailed for two years.
Prosecutor Richard Franck said that in July last year a young woman who had advertised her i-Phone 7 for sale online was contacted by Harris, calling herself Jade C.
They agreed a price of £400, and when they met outside Sylvanus House, Harris counted out £400 which she handed over in an envelope and left with the phone.
But when the seller took the money out, she very quickly realised the notes were forgeries from the feel of them, and then saw that many of them had the same serial numbers.
She reported it to the police, and Harris was identified because she had registered for the online site using her address.
When she was arrested she admitted handing over the £400, but she denied knowing it was counterfeit and claimed it was from £900 she had received from the sale of some goods of her own.
She pleaded not guilty to that charge, but was convicted following a trial in her absence in April this year.
While she was on bail for that, Harris, Bennett and another man went to the Next store on the Central Six retail park in Coventry, where the two men said they were buying clothes for their sister’s wedding.
They paid for £580 worth of clothes with counterfeit Scottish £20 notes, which were checked by a member of staff but appeared to be genuine.
They and Harris then went to the homeware department of the store and paid for a £220 lamp with more fake Scottish £20s.
It was only realised that all the notes were counterfeit when staff began cashing up – and after the police were alerted the trio were linked to a car which was then stopped on the M42.
When they were questioned, Bennett gave a prepared statement in which he denied the offence, saying he had mental health issues, while Harris and the other man made no comment.
On bail again, on December 19 Harris went into the House of Fraser store in Leamington and tried to pay for a £292 bracelet and watch set with counterfeit Royal Bank of Scotland £20 notes – but staff realised they were fakes and the police were notified.
When she was arrested Harris, who the court heard had no previous convictions, said she had been given the notes by her boyfriend and had two more in her purse.
Mr Franck added that Bennett had a number of convictions, and in June was jailed for 18 months at Stafford Crown Court for passing a counterfeit Scottish £20 note at Asda in Stafford.
Helen Marley, for Harris, said she had been drawn into the offences by her abusive then-boyfriend.
She said Harris, whose five older children had previously been taken into care, was due to have a hearing in prison at which it will be decided whether she will be allowed to keep her young baby, her sixth child, with her in custody.
“She will only be able to do so for 18 months, so any sentence of more than three years will mean the baby will be taken from her,” added Miss Marley.
Dean Easthope, for Bennett, said he became involved after splitting up with his partner, with whom he had two children, and falling into debt with loan sharks to whom he had turned to get money to help her out when she fell into rent arrears.
Jailing Bennett and Harris, Judge Sally Hancox quoted the late Lord Chief Justice Lord Lane, who said: “The issue of counterfeit notes undermines the whole economy of the country and great loss to innocent people who find themselves in possession of these notes which are then found to be worthless.”
Judge Hancox pointed out that in Harris’s first offence ‘an entirely innocent person’ had handed over her phone in return for the worthless notes.
And there was ‘every prospect’ that staff at the stores could have faced disciplinary action or even been expected to make good the loss or been dismissed for accepting the fake notes.
“Those who seek to make use of counterfeit currency must be punished with immediate custodial sentences,” she added.
