Ex-Town star in £22k store con

A FORMER FC Halifax Town footballer, who defrauded a retail giant out of more than £22,000 in a little over a month, has been spared jail.
FC Halifax Town v Barnet. Adam SmithFC Halifax Town v Barnet. Adam Smith
FC Halifax Town v Barnet. Adam Smith

“Charmer” Adam Smith targeted TK Maxx stores around the UK during his seven-week crime spree.

Derby Crown Court heard how the 31-year-old, who now plays for the Shaymen’s rivals Alfreton in the National League North, would buy hundreds of pounds of goods from one store on a first credit card and then immediately tell the cashier he had paid on the “wrong card”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He would then be refunded and pay again with a second card, but retain the original receipt which he used to claim the cash back.

Sarah Slater, prosecuting, said sometimes that original receipt would be used “two or three times” to illegally claim back money.

The court was told how Smith, who began his footballing career at Chesterfield playing for the Spireites for seven years, used four credit cards to carry out the transactions and also coerced two other people to fraudulently take goods back for refunds for him.

He was snared when he was confronted at a store in Banbury, Oxfordshire, by a suspicious security guard who was watching him on CCTV.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He alerted the police who arrested Smith when they pulled him over on the M42 near Birmingham and discovered a folder containing receipts and clothing tags from a number of TK Maxx stores.

The winger, who made 82 league appearances for the Shaymen between 2013 and 2015 and also played for Mansfield Town, Lincoln City, York City and Wrexham, pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming £22,278.27 from the firm between November 18 and December 22, 2015.

Handing him a two-year jail term, suspended for two years, Judge Robert Egbuna said: “My assessment of you is that you think you are someone who can charm your way out of everything.

“But what was going on was a well-devised plan of deceit using four credit cards around different parts of the country.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“This was a sophisticated plan of deception using three other individuals who you brought into your plan.

“I have no doubt when you were arrested and interviewed you thought you could charm your way out of the situation.”

Miss Slater said Smith, of Chesterfield, targeted TK Maxx stores across the country including branches in Chesterfield, Sheffield, Leeds, Harrogate, Manchester and Banbury.

She said: “He would buy goods on one credit card and then say to them “sorry that is the wrong card” and get a refund.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He would then pay on a second card but manage to retain the original receipt to claim refunds again from different stores.

“Sometimes he was able to use that original receipt two or three times.

“He would go in himself and also used a female and another male to do that work for him.

“One example is how he bought some Gucci boots for £300, took back a different pair of boots and got a full refund.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Miss Slater said Smith, who signed for Alfreton Town in October last year, had a previous conviction for giving false details to the police after being stopped while driving.

Bob Sastry, defending, said his client committed the offences at a time when his relationship with the mother of his two children, aged 10 and seven, broke down.

Mr Sastry said: “He was under considerable financial strain after no longer being given a full-time contract as a footballer.

“He had difficulty moving down the (footballing) ranks and that led to the break-up of his relationship with the mother of his two children.

“He now earns £350 per week and has a contract until the end of May. That is the background to what led him to make the stupid decision to carry out this offending.”