A FRAUDSTER who took goods worth more than £27,000 from unsuspecting Facebook users has been locked up.
Edward McDonagh, currently of HMP Berwyn in Wrexham, appeared via video link for sentence at Caernarfon Crown Court on Thursday morning.
The 21-year-old had been convicted at a previous hearing of:
- Fraud by false representation x 11
- Driving whilst disqualified
- Driving without insurance
- Using threatening or abusive words or behaviour
- Fraudulent use of a licence mark/plate
Catherine Elvin, prosecting, told the court the 11 fraud offences took place between October 2022 and December 2023.
Every offence related to McDonagh reaching out to individuals advertising goods for sale on Facebook Marketplace, meeting them and purporting to make payment.
In all, he defrauded his victims to the tune of £27,585 - for items including designer clothing, iPhones, iPads and two Rolex watches.
He got away with the items in all but one of the fraudulent transactions.
He even bolstered his claims by making a call on speakerphone 'to his bank,' with a person on the other end of the phone confirming transfers could take up to 24 hours to show up.
The 11 offences took place in a wide variety of locations, largely Wrexham, but others took place in Middlesborough, Flintshire, Corwen and Great Sutton.
One of his fraud victims managed to get a photo of McDonagh's vehicle as he left.
It was a Peugeot van, but the plates were registered to a Mazda vehicle, giving rise to the fraudulent registration charge.
The motoring offences took place in December 2023 in Central London, when police witnessed McDonagh in a dispute with another member of the public.
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Officers asked him to move his vehicle to allow others to pass, but he simply drove away.
He was found a short time later and checks revealed he was a banned driver and didn't have insurance.
And finally, at the end of December 2023, McDonagh was caught on CCTV involved in a fight in Wrexham.
He was identified and arrested in a nearby bar.
The defendant had 21 previous convictions for 33 offences; including previous fraud, burglary and theft.
His latest offending put him in breach of three suspended sentence.
Trevor Parry-Jones, defending, told the court: "He pleaded guilty to each of the matters at the first opportunity.
"He has anxiety and depression, Tourette's and PTSD and I ask the court to take account of his age - he was very young (19) when he started these offences.
"It's unusual to find someone so young who has started to defraud in this particular way.
"There's obviously something very wrong in his makeup and learning, and he understands that.
"He lives in Blackburn, but has lived in Wrexham.
"He has no children and he and his wife have moved around different addresses."
Mr Parry-Jones conceded his client would be going to jail, and asked the court to bear in mind this would be his "first proper sentence of custody."
Judge Nicola Saffman handed down an overall sentence of two years for McDonagh's latest raft of offences.
She also activated 12 months on the suspended sentences he'd breached, to be served consecutively, making a total of three years behind bars.
McDonagh also received a six month driving ban (with an additional 18 months to reflect half of his custodial sentence).
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