Undercover police trap fraudster
A FRAUDSTER whose eBay account was used to sell stolen goods has received a suspended jail sentence.
Russell Francks, aged 32, was traced when police were alerted to a 5,000 lighting tower which had been stolen from a railway contract near Althorp in September 2007.
Northampton Crown Court heard how officers posing as potential buyers arranged to meet Ian Brown, 36, and Patrick O'Beirne, 37, to buy the stolen equipment.
Officers had been alerted via an earlier sale of stolen machinery and placed a successful bid to buy the lighting tower.
But when they met up at a timber yard in Mill Lane, Little Houghton, last August, the two men were arrested and later jailed.
Lucy Fairclough, prosecuting at Northampton Crown Court, said investigations later proved Francks’s email and eBay account were used to offer the stolen goods for sale.
Francks, of Floribunda Drive, Briar Hill, previously pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods
Judge Charles Wide yesterday sentenced him to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for a year, and he must also do 150 hours community service and pay 160 costs.
In May, Brown, of Lower Meadow Court, Thorplands, was jailed for a total of 18 months while O’Beirne, of Dryleys Court, Goldings, was jailed for nine months.
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