A North Yorkshire businessman lost his life savings at the hands of “wicked” fraudsters who targeted vulnerable victims by claiming to be collecting payments for bogus advertising debts.
The man, who was in his 70s, was scammed out of around £410,000 and Judge Sophie McKone said the complainant had been reduced from a strong and independent man to “a complete wreck” as a consequence of the fraud. Bradford Crown Court heard today the man was one of six complainants from around the country who fell prey to the fraudsters led by Manchester man Wayne McCreery.
McCreery, 50, also known as Chadwick, was jailed for four years for his role in January and today his “number two” Liam Dinsdale, 38, of Bradley Road, East Nelson, was also locked up. Dinsdale, who pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to defraud, was jailed for five-and-a-half years after the court heard that he been sent to prison back in 2013 for almost identical fraud offences.
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Prosecutor Claire Holmes said said Dinsdale and Chadwick had both played “leading roles” in the conspiracy and £24,000 in cash was found at Dinsdale’s home when he was arrested. Dinsdale claimed he owed money to Chadwick and was in fear of him. Miss Holmes said there had been six victims who had lost a total sum of £472,896.20 and the fraudsters had deliberately targeted vulnerable people who would be susceptible to threats which they employed without mercy.
Jailing Dinsdale Judge McKone said: “Your actions, along with Wayne Chadwick, in defrauding the victims in the way you did was truly wicked. You and Wayne Chadwick pretended to be people who could help victims when all along you were taking thousands of pounds from innocent hard-working people who could not afford to lose the money they did. You selected victims with care and knew they were people who would be frightened by the court process and would pay.”
Judge McKone said during the offending between 2015 and 2018 they had been “relentless” in pursuing victims for money they simply did not owe and had cynically claimed to be helping the complainants to pay off their debts. She told him: “You threatened them with bailiffs and then pretended to help them. All your victims must have been constantly worried about paying off the debt.”
She highlighted the fact that Dinsdale had spent some of the money on holidays, tickets for football matches and expensive clothing and said he clearly benefitted for the fraud. In reference to the North Yorkshire man the judge said the pair had stripped him of his life savings and treasured possessions in the most “callous and calculated way”.
The judge said people’s lives had been turned upside down for one reason only and that was greed. “You did play a leading role but I accept you were not the leader. You were second in command,” the judge told Dinsdale.
(Image: North Yorkshire Police)
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