Doorstoppers
'Police should have caught me sooner'
A FISH salesman swindled thousands of pounds from pensioners across the region to pay off massive gambling debts.
When he was finally arrested, Paul Dawson threatened to sue police for not catching him sooner and saving some of his victims.
Yesterday, the 41-year-old from County Durham was locked up for 15 months for what police described as "simply despicable, mean and greedy offences".
A court heard how Dawson had amassed gambling debts of more than £80,000 and used the money taken from his victims to pay loan companies and bills.
In total, he stole nearly £15,000 from elderly and infirm people across Teesside, County Durham, Tyneside and Derbyshire between October 2005 and August last year.
Dawson would either alter cheques or steal blank cheques from customers and fill them out in amounts of up to £1,400.
The door-to-door conman was finally arrested after striking in Newton Aycliffe and Gateshead within two days last summer.
In an interview, he told police: "Maybe I should take you to court for not arresting me earlier and preventing further offences."
Dawson, of Tennyson Road, Chester-le-Street, admitted nine counts of using a false instrument, eight of theft and one of attempted theft. He asked for another 20 similar matters to be taken into account, and has helped police solve some crimes which had not been reported.
Judge Tony Briggs, sitting at Teesside Crown Court, told Dawson: "It is perfectly plain you did this because you were driven by a gambling addiction.
"Other parts of your nature recoiled from what you had done and I hope for your sake that will continue to be the influence that eventually controls you."
The Judge added: "The public interest must [be put] first, because no community can afford to have people preying upon the infirm and elderly."
Among Dawson's victims were a couple from Stockton, who lost £550, a 76-year-old from Nunthorpe, Middlesbrough, who had £650 stolen and a woman from Bishop Auckland, who had a cheque stolen and cashed for £750.
An 82-year-old woman living alone in Newton Aycliffe had two blank cheques stolen which were later paid into a bank account for £1,125 and £1,400.
Stephen Ainsley, mitigating, said: "Gambling is the root of his problems and it is not something he has been able to control, but he is seeking assistance.
"Not only did he plead guilty in interview, he offered information and took police officers to locations where offending had taken place."
8:47am Saturday 3rd February 2007
Print 
Email this
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
