Couple jailed for £6,000 Tesco voucher fraud

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-32721505

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A couple have been jailed for fraudulently using thousands of pounds of Tesco vouchers to buy electronics.

Justine White, 44, and Joseph Robert McDermott, 45, of Bootle, Liverpool, were convicted at Mold Crown Court of conspiracy to defraud.

The pair defrauded Tesco stores across north Wales and Cheshire using £6,000 worth of vouchers to buy computer tablets and alcohol to sell on eBay.

McDermott was jailed for 12 months and White for 11 months.

Prosecutor Matthew Curtis said it was not known how the pair obtained the vouchers, which belonged to other customers.

They targeted stores including Warrington, Helsby and Chester, all in Cheshire, as well as Wrexham, Prestatyn in Denbighshire and Caernarfon, Gwynedd.

They were caught when they visited Tesco in Abergele, Conwy, and McDermott was challenged by a security guard.

A scuffle broke out and a box McDermott had with him split open, spilling vouchers on to the floor.

Simon Killeen, defending, said the couple had "taken advantage of the lax system that Tesco operated".