Swindon fraudster conned businessman out of £3,700 in boat sale

Kane Townsend was among a number of individuals involved in the fraud after the Nottingham-based businessman travelled all the way to the Isle of Wight last May to collect the £3,700 boat - only to find the company did not exist.

He had spoken with a woman on the phone, who gave him Townsend’s Halifax bank account to transfer the money into.

It was only when the businessman arrived on the Isle of Wight that he searched the bank account’s name and realised that Townsend had been in trouble with the police, Swindon Magistrates’ Court heard on Thursday (April 28).

Kane Townsend

The fraud was labelled "sophisticated" with a website and email address set up, as well as photos sent to the victim.

Appearing in the dock, Townsend also pleaded guilty to burglary, having entered the Glasses Direct offices in Hargreaves Road and stolen a rucksack and iPhone Pro Max special edition in July 2021.

The 24-year-old was seen entering the building without a bag, and leaving with one, and it was found discarded in the undergrowth nearby.

Prosecutor Keith Ballinger also detailed how police attended Penhill Drive in February to arrest Townsend, as he was wanted, only to see him climbing out of a ground floor window.

He slipped, allowing officers to detain him, and they found a kitchen knife in his waistband.

Townsend, of Coombe Road in Moredon, was told he’d likely face a jail sentence.

They committed the case to Swindon Crown Court, saying the offences “take us outside of our sentencing powers and should go to the Crown Court”.

Magistrates can currently issue up to six months in prison for a single offence, or up to twelve months if sentences are consecutive. 

Mitigating, Charlotte Frizzell said that her client was “fully aware you are more than likely to send him straight to prison today”.

It was heard that Townsend, apprehended by police earlier this week after a public appeal was launched, had gone into a “downward spiral” since his dad died six years ago.

He started taking cannabis before trying crack cocaine and developing an addiction.

“His convictions are really in relation to supporting that habit he continues to have,” Ms Frizzell said.

“He has no support within the community whatsoever, and he himself accepts that he has turned a blind eye.

“All I can ask for is leniency in relation to any sentence.”

Magistrates imposed a 14-day jail term after Townsend breached his post-sentence supervision requirements earlier this month, but he will face sentence for fraud, burglary and possession of a bladed article on May 27.