A man’s attempt to buy a sports car under a false name only put him on the road to prison.
David Paterson tried to con staff at the Grassicks BMW dealership at The Triangle on Perth”s Dunkeld Road by applying for credit under a false name.
While working alongside an unknown person, the 37-year-old made an appointment with the sales team to purchase a new BMW 320i M Sport, worth around £26,000.
He led them to believe he was James Craig from Burnmouth Road in Little Dunkeld to enable him to buy the expensive car.
The unsuspecting staff at Grassicks completed the transaction, but the scam came to light shortly afterwards.
Paterson”s solicitor told Perth Sheriff Court his client had become involved with the elaborate plot to make some money to feed his alcohol addiction.
“Since this offence he has lived below the radar,” he said. “He admits that he was involved and that it was only for financial reasons.”
Paterson, of no fixed abode, admitted that between November 23, 2009, and December 8, 2009, at Grassicks BMW, The Triangle, he pretended to staff that he was James Craig and he induced them to sell him a motor vehicle, which he obtained by fraud.
Jailing him for 11 months, Sheriff Lindsay Foulis told the accused custody was the only option open to him.
Photo by Flickr user vincentq.