Greedy Gold Prospectors Caught

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.