A FRAUDSTER who travelled from London with false ID documents to take money out of customers’ accounts in York, Selby and Beverley has been jailed.

Judge Jacqueline Davies said Desmon Robert Conway targeted banks on three consecutive days, but on his second attempt to get money out of a York bank in February 29, staff became suspicious and called police.

In total he got away with £7,700 and tried to steal a further £5,000, He was on bail at the time for carrying a knife in public in the St Albans area. Judge Davis said the frauds were planned and deliberately dishonest from the start and jailed him for 12 months, plus six months for the knife incident. He was on bail for that offence at the time of the frauds.

Conway, 58, of Linnet Close, London, pleaded guilty to three offences of fraud by false representation, one of possession of a driving licence and a bank card in another person’s name with intent to defraud, and one of carrying a knife in public.

He asked for an offence of fraud and one of attempted fraud to be taken into consideration.

He had more than 80 convictions stretching back four decades, many of them for dishonesty.

His barrister Nicholas Barker said he was a long-time drug user who had run up debts to dealers. He had been made an offer he could not refuse to pay the debts by committing the frauds and handing over the money to the dealers. He was handed the false ID documents, driven up to Yorkshire and told to go into the banks.

Judge Davies said from February 27 to February 29, Conway withdrew £1,500 from Santandar’s branch in Selby using a false name and £5,000 from the bank’s Beverley branch.

On two days, he targeted York, getting £1,200 on one occasion and failing to get money on another.

By this stage, staff were suspicious and they called in police when he returned to the York bank in a bid to withdraw £5,000.