Businessman jailed for £200,000 fraud, used assets to fund a lavish lifestyle

Anthony Ansell, 59, denied 34 charges of fraud at Carlisle Crown Court but was found guilty of 15 of them.

Ansell had two previous convictions for similar offences in the 1980s. He was jailed for a total of three years and banned from being a company director for five years.

He was caught in the spring of 2011 after his business associates discovered he had forged their signatures on a cheque made out to a stockbroker.

He used the embezzled money to fund a lifestyle that included owning horses, a large house and luxury cars.

Andrew Ford, prosecuting, said there were no plans to make Ansell repay any money through the Proceeds of Crime Act, though he reserved the right to do so if Ansell ever came into any money in the future.

Article Source: In Cumbria

Thief who stole into ex wifes house over 100 times told to pay back £35,300 or face jail

Bernard Young kept a key to his ex wifes house after their marriage broke down in 2009. Over a 5 year period he entered the house over 100 times, stole her cash card, took out money from cash machines and then returned the card.

Earlier this year, Young was convicted of fraud and given a 12-month jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid community work. Now, under a Proceeds of Crime hearing at Liverpool Crown Court he has been ordered to pay back £35,300 to his ex partner, Lynn or face nine months in jail.

Prosecutor Sarah Holt, said: Young was aware she (ex wife) kept her handbag in the bedroom while she was asleep. He went into the bedroom, went to her handbag and took the card.

He made the withdrawals and then went back to the house to place the card back in the bag, which was undisturbed. This was how he was able to take so much money over such a lengthy period of time.

Article Source: Mirror.co.uk 

Convicted paedophile targets school girls

Ashley Ashington, of Neston, randomly targeted thousands of teenagers nationwide via social media messaging services asking them to take photographs of themselves for his own sexual gratification whilst he was on bail for similar offences.

But when two girls refused to ‘go any further’ Ashington sent images of the girls to boys at their schools, who in turn showed them to classmates.

Defending, Kenneth Grant said  Ashington had not distributed the images to like-minded individuals, and he had not tried to meet the girls or engage with them.

The 24-year-old was sentenced to 16 months behind bars after pleading guilty to possessing indecent images of children. He will also be on the Sex Offenders Register for the next 10 years. He was also made subject to a sexual offences prevention order.

Article Source: Chester Chronicle