Description
A sex offender who left his victim in debt after conning her out of more than 2,000 is back behind bars.
Geoffrey Ball told a string of lies to the woman - who he struck up a relationship with when she was working at a petrol station - to get cash sums from her, which he claimed he would pay back.
His deceit included saying his sister was seriously ill with Covid and he needed 300 to visit her and he needed 100 to secure a puppy for the woman, which never materialised. He pleaded guilty to five charges of fraud when he appeared before Teesside Magistrates' Court via video link from Acklington Prison.
Ball, 50, who was placed on a sex offenders' register in 2010 for touching and grabbing a woman on a train, also pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions by not telling officers he had moved out of his Teesside home.
In December 2018 Ball, who at that time had 35 aliases, was sentenced to three years and ten months in prison. Teesside Crown Court heard he used one woman to fund his drinking and gambling, tricked another out of 3,410 by saying he had cancer and told a third woman he knew a solicitor who could stop her children being taken away.
Lynne Dalton, prosecuting at the magistrates' court, said Ball used the alias of Peter Marsh when he struck up a relationship with a woman who was working in a petrol station in Wales in May last year.
Over the next two months he asked her for several sums of money, including 600 to buy building materials so he could do some work on her house, 220 for a locksmith to repair her door, 300 to visit his sister in Cornwall who was ill on a ventilator with Covid, 300 to travel to Ireland to retrieve his stolen car and 100 to secure a puppy for her. He admitted all five of these fraud offences.
However, the victim claimed in total she gave him 2,460. Ms Dalton said Ball also told the woman his son was a solicitor and could help her with a neighbour dispute she was having, but then said his son had died and was in floods of tears.
Ms Dalton said in her statement the victim said Ball struck up a conversation with her in the petrol station where she worked and asked for her number, then began ringing her every day and started to stay at her home.
She said: "He had the gift of the gab, was a sweet-talker and really charming. She was flattered and enjoyed speaking to him. It was all very convincing. She said she was emotionally blackmailed into giving him money."
Ms Dalton said in her statement the woman said: "He told me he would pay the money back and that he was worth a fortune. He said he earned 120,000 a year."
Ball said he had lost his bank card and needed money to visit his sister, then the following week he needed money to go to Ireland to pick up his stolen car. He said he had sold the car and the money he was going to pay her back with was destroyed in a fire. After about two months the victim contacted the police.
Reading from the statement the prosecutor said: "Looking back it seems so far fetched, but at the time I believed him."
She said: "I don't trust anyone anymore. I am so devastated I could let this happen, I didn't think I could be deceived like this.
"I feel violated having fallen victim to fraud and feel people will think worse of me because of that. I have not told any of my friends or family about the incident, I feel ashamed and they will think I am stupid for letting this happen to me."
Nick Woodhouse, defending, said the breach of the conditions on the sex offenders register was because Ball felt he had no option but to leave his Teesside home because some people knew he had information about an incident in Stockton which he had tried to tell the police.
He said: "He didn't target (the victim), he got talking to her. He accepts the money hadn't been paid back."
Mr Woodhouse said Ball had admitted the offences at the earliest opportunity. He said he is also suffering from some health problems, including high blood pressure.
Ball was jailed for 36 weeks and ordered to pay 1,520 in compensation.