The 'Goldfinger of Wallington' Frank
Dickson sold four stolen gold bars for less than a quarter of their
value – clocking-up his forty-sixth conviction.
The bars – worth nearly £5,000 –
were the proceeds of a scam and their sale enraged the criminals
behind the illegal purchase.
Apprentice window fitter Dickson, 28,
of Barnard Close, Wallington pleaded guilty at Croydon Crown Court
to converting criminal property, namely the gold bars, on June 25,
last year.
Prosecutor Elizabeth Dean told the
court online fraudsters hijacked an innocent man's identity to buy
the bars for £4,971 from Baird & Co on June 21.
The fraudsters arranged to have the
gold delivered via Royal Mail special delivery to an associate's
address in Mitcham on June 25.
“The package was delivered to the
address of Tim Lambert, who had been told by a friend to simply sign
and look after it.
“Mr. Lambert opened it and found the
four gold bars and believing it was his lucky day decided to sell the
bars.”
He brought them to an address in Aitken
Close, Mitcham, where Dickson agreed he could arrange a sale.
Dickson phoned a contact and sold the
gold bars for £1140 – taking a £560 commission.
However, when the fraudsters threatened
Lambert for their gold he was forced to go to police for his own
safety and was later jailed for eight months for theft.
“You have a troubling record going
back to when you were only twelve years of age,” Recorder Niall
Quinn QC told Dickson, who has forty-five previous convictions and is
currently serving a prison sentence
“You have a history of burglary and
dishonesty, but you have made significant progress for the first time
in your life with this apprenticeship.
“On this occasion it seems you
certainly charged a fee that is more than Cash Converters would have
done.”
Dickson was conditionally discharged
for eighteen months, fined £50 with a £15 surcharge for failing to
appear at an earlier hearing and ordered to pay £100 costs.
When released from his current sentence
Dickson will remain under an existing suspended sentence that
includes an alcohol treatment requirement.
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