A 20-year old man said to be “obsessed” with defrauding eBay buyers has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. Philip Shortman, from Cwmbran, south Wales, was accused of taking money for various items, but failing to supply the goods, which included 2006 Ryder Cup tickets, a Sony camcorder and a top-range mobile phone worth £900. He also apparently managed to scam another seller, by failing to complete a promised bank transfer for a £250 laptop.
The father of two had already received a year’s detention for eBay scams back in 2005, and was also given an eight-month suspended jail term earlier this year for purchasing thousands of stolen fuel cards. Shortman was due to be sentenced last week, but failed to arrive in court as he was being questioned by police about other suspected offences.
Sending Shortman to a young offenders’ institution, Judge David Morris said: “When those like you deceive purchasers and vendors over the internet, it strikes at the system as a whole and brings otherwise respectable trading institutions and individuals into overall disrepute.” And so say all of us.
