A fake landlord who pocketed £2,300 from potential tenants after advertising the flat he rented on Gumtree has dodged a jail sentence.
Fraudster Edward Crawford, 37, admitted duping several people into handing over deposits for the flat he rented from another man on St Vincent Street, Broughty Ferry.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard that the crook stole the money in a bid to keep up with his own rent payments.
Crawford – who used the name “Gary Brogan” – showed his victims around the flat before accepting their deposit payments. One woman handed over a month’s rent up front.
Despite having multiple previous convictions, a sheriff opted not to send Crawford to prison due to the efforts he has made to turn his life around in the last few years.
Fiscal depute Carol Doherty previously told the court that Crawford had been failing to pay rent to his landlord and had also received complaints about anti-social behaviour.
She said: “Around May 2018, a male known as ‘Gary’ made an advert for the flat and that a deposit would have to be paid.
“Witnesses met with the accused and believed this was a genuine flat to be released and had agreed to rent the flat individually.
“They had put the deposit down with the accused.”
However, it later emerged that Crawford had no authority to lease the property and police later caught up with him.
Crawford, of Back Dykes, Auchtermuchty, pleaded guilty to telling the victims that he was Gary Brogan and that he was entitled to advertise and rent out a property on St Vincent Street, Broughty Ferry, and was in a position to provide the occupancy rights in exchange for the payment of money between May 16 2018 and June 23 2018.
He induced the victims to pay him a total of £2,300 that was obtained fraudulently.
Defence solicitor Peter Robinson said that Crawford himself conceded that he was likely to receive a jail sentence but asked Sheriff Lorna Drummond to give him an opportunity in the community due to work he has done to get his life back on track.
As an alternative to custody, Crawford was ordered to perform 220 hours of unpaid work and will have to pay a total of £1,400 to some of his victims.
Crawford was also placed on supervision for 18 months.
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