Wolverhampton Man Jailed For Impersonating Jockeys

3 November 2018, 08:25 | Updated: 3 November 2018, 08:26

A man from Wolverhampton - who impersonated famous horse jockeys to steal money from their banks - has been jailed.

40-year-old Joseph Mason began his fraud spree back in October 2014 when he entered a Barclays Bank in Shrewsbury pretending to be a famous jockey. Using personal details he had found online, he managed to successfully answer the bank security questions walking away with £2600.

After that - Mason moved nearer to home and a few weeks later he entered a HSBC store in Acocks Green to begin impersonating his second victim.

Over the next three years, Mason continued the charade, travelling around the West Midlands impersonating jockeys and a jeweller in order to withdraw large quantities of money from the bank.

Mason was caught on CCTV for most of the offences, where he was seen wearing a quilted jacket with khaki trousers and Adidas trainers. He was identified through CCTV and later arrested and when officers searched his property the items of clothing were found that matched the footage. A mobile phone was also recovered from his underwear which contained bank details of all his victims.

Mason - of Brantley Avenue - pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud and sentenced to three years in prison.

Detective Sergeant Allan McDonald, from the Economic Crime Unit, said: “Mason was a callous criminal who took pleasure in taking large amounts of money from hard working citizens. 

“We hope this sentence will provide some comfort to all of the victims that have been effected by Mason’s actions."