THREE fraudsters have been jailed after spending thousands of pounds with fake credit cards on a York shopping spree.

Mindaugas Kairys, Griedrius Juskevicus and Darius Skinulis drove to the city from Hull and bought items worth almost £3,000 from well-known stores.

Several other attempts to use the cloned cards failed.

They were caught on CCTV, and security staff at a shopping centre were put on alert after the alarm was raised about the credibility of the cards following the trio’s targeting of Tesco at Askham Bar.

All three received 12-month prison sentences after York Crown Court heard the “unsophisticated” scam saw them obtain five cloned cards through the internet.

They then fraudulently obtained a haul of electrical items, including mobile phones and a computer, fragrances and Tesco gift vouchers to the tune of £2,930.

Kairys, 22, and Juskevicus, 22, both of Alaska Street, Hull, and Skinulis, 21, of Falconer Street, Hull, elsewhere in York on April 8 last year, only to see them declined.

The three Lithuanians had also used them the day before in Hull and Beverley.

Alan Mitcheson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said Juskevicus and Kairys were caught on CCTV at Boots store at Clifton Moor, where they had difficulty using a card but used “charm” to “brazen it out” and managed to obtain goods.

Police officers chased the pair who were found hiding in undergrowth, with Juskevicus having one of the cards in his possession and Kairys having two.

Skinulis was caught by officers standing by a red BMW. Police discovered another fake card and stolen goods in the vehicle, while the fifth card was noit recovered.

Glenn Parsons, defending Juskevicus, said his client had struggled with the time he had spent in remand following his arrest as he spoke little English and was in an isolated position. “He has learned the error of his ways,” said Mr Parsons.

Skinulis’ barrister, Andrew Semple, said his client was a trained carpenter and had come to England to find work.

When his job in a meat factory came to an end he was faced with “a desperate situation” financially.

Defending Kairys, Steven Brown said his client had come to the UK aged 18 and worked at food factories and agricultural enterprises before losing his job in 2009.

All three pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud. Kairys received an additional eight month sentence for his part in a robbery on April 12 last year.

He pleaded guilty to attacking a friend he had been drinking with to obtain his credit card and pin number to steal £53 to buy alcohol.