A crooked “hot tub salesman” has been given a final chance to avoid more jail time.
Serial swindler Edward Townsley advertised a jacuzzi-style pool for sale on Facebook marketplace.
The 32-year-old duped two women into sending him money but they called the police when the tubs never arrived.
Townsley, from Auchterarder, instead funnelled their cash into a spiralling drug habit.
He previously pled guilty to defrauding the women on December 28 2021 and February 2 2022, cheating them out of £800 and £1,600 respectively.
In April, he was jailed for a similar scheme involving unkept promises of roof repairs and gardening work.
When he returned to the dock for sentencing this week, Perth Sheriff Court heard he had also tricked customers from outside the Tayside jurisdiction.
West coast cons
Fiscal depute Elizabeth Hodgson said Townsley had promised to carry out gardening work and purchase materials for a woman in Shotts between March 23 and June 6 2022, conning her out of £1,800.
He went on to defraud another customer – again, promising gardening work that was never carried out – in Alexandria, by Loch Lomond, on June 8 2022, taking £1,500.
He struck again in Cumbernauld between May 1 and June 6 2022, targeting a woman in Clouden Road and inducing her to pay £1,400 for landscaping he had no intention of doing.
Sheriff William Wood told Townsley: “I take account of the fact you have spent a significant period in custody.
“My inclination would normally be to impose a further period of imprisonment but it does seem that there may be an option for you to be dealt with in some other way.”
Townsley, who is due to be released from prison later this month, was placed on supervision for a year, with sentencing for two fraud cases deferred until December.
‘Inveterate fraudster and thief’
He is serving a 16-month sentence for scams on Facebook and Gumtree.
Solicitor John McLaughlin said: “Mr Townsley had a significant addiction to drugs but unfortunately did not tell anyone about it.
“He tried to get money from wherever he could to feed his habit.”
The court heard that at one point Townsley owed so much money, debt collectors were turning up at his house looking for payments.
He is now drug-free, Mr McLaughlin said.
Townsley previously pled guilty to seven charges of fraud committed between March 30 2020 and April 18 2022.
Sheriff Wood told him: “The difficulty you have is that you are an inveterate fraudster and a thief.
“There’s no other way I can say that.”
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