A fraudster lied that his son had died of cancer in a bid to get false refunds from stores including WH Smith, Asda, Tesco and Morrisons. Serial fraudster Simon Porter's manipulative technique was to "play on the good nature" of people by making up stories to elicit the sympathy of shop staff.
The 47-year-old managed to succeed in two of his lies and had a history of 215 previous convictions with 134 of them fraud-related, Hull Crown Court heard. Porter, of Bachelor Street, Hull, admitted five offences of fraud between May 12 and 31, HullLive reports.
The court heard that Porter, who has a drug addiction, told "grotesque lies" in order to pull on the heartstrings of people so they would bend the rules. His ploy of claiming someone had died was his 'go-to method' of fraud.
Benjamin Donnell, prosecuting, said that Porter entered Tesco in Morton Lane, Beverley, on May 12 and went to the customer service desk, where he asked to speak to the manager. He pretended that he had returned to thank colleagues for their help the previous day over someone who had died.
He later picked up an ice-making machine and returned to the customer service desk. He spoke to a different member of staff and claimed that the manager had agreed to a refund for it. He was given a refund of £129.
On May 14, Porter went to Asda at Anlaby retail park and picked up pans, valued at £65. He went to the tills and asked for a refund, saying that he had previously bought them for his mother, who had died, but he was challenged by a member of staff. He made an excuse that he now realised where he had left the receipt and left.
On May 14, Porter went to Morrison's petrol station on Anlaby Road, Hull, picked up three containers of motor oil, pretended that he had previously bought the items and asked for a refund but this was refused because a member of staff had seen him picking them up from a shelf.
On May 25, Porter went to Aldi in Preston Road, east Hull, and asked to speak to the manager, saying that he wanted to thank a member of staff who had helped yesterday concerning a bereaved person.
He later took a pressure washer, valued at £109, from a shelf and pretended that he had spoken to the manager and that it had been agreed that he could have a refund without having a receipt. "He made off with a £109 refund," said Mr Donnell.
On May 31, Porter went to WH Smith in Beverley and went to the till with two board games, valued at £24.99 and £29.99, claiming that he had previously bought them for his son, who had died of cancer. He claimed that he had left the receipt in his car and left, saying that he would return with it, but he did not. He was arrested on June 9 and said that he carried out the frauds to feed a heroin and crack cocaine addiction.
Porter had convictions for 215 previous offences dating back to 1992, including 134 for fraud and similar matters and 30 for theft. He had been jailed in November 2019 for 16 months for 18 fraud offences.
Nigel Clive, mitigating, said that Porter made admissions at a very early stage. "He found himself with no accommodation and very quickly reverted to using drugs as a coping mechanism," said Mr Clive. "He did what he knew best and went directly back into his old offending habits, making up elaborate stories."
Porter's previous convictions were littered with similar offences such as these. "The defendant is not happy with his life and is not happy with his drug addiction," said Mr Clive. "He says he is getting too old for this. He doesn't have a home. He has drug associates. He knows this is a problem."
Judge Peter Kelson QC told Porter: "You have used your current technique in the past. It's your go-to method. You play on the good nature of good people. It's as bad as shoplifting. It's the same effect in terms of loss to the stores.
"What was particularly repulsive about your offending is the grotesque lies you would tell these good people to play on their heart strings to try to get them to bend the rules." Porter was jailed for eight months.
