Trainee engineer who tried to use minister's credit card to buy designer coat sentenced
24 March 2021, 20:51
A trainee engineer has been handed a 12-month community order after attempting to use health minister Nadine Dorries' credit card details to buy a £958 Canada Goose designer coat.
Cory Chin used a fraudulent copy of the Conservative MP's Lloyds credit card to try and buy the coat in October 2019, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.
While the transaction was unsuccessful, a phone number and email address were given, which led to him being tracked down.
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The 24-year-old of Palmerston Road, Walthamstow, east London, plead guilty last month to attempting to use the card and was was handed a 12-month community order when he was sentenced on Wednesday, requiring him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
He was also ordered to pay £175 in costs within the next 28 days.
Chin was described as a "well-educated and hardworking young man" and the hearing was told he was a trainee engineer with a large telecoms firm.
He had "no idea" who Ms Dorries was and did not specifically target her as an MP, the court heard.
Sentencing him, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said: "This was a deliberate attempt to use the details of a bank card which you knew belonged to someone else to obtain a luxury item for yourself."
She said it was acknowledged "no actual financial loss was suffered by the complainant" and that Chin had shown "genuine remorse" and accepted the "distress and inconvenience" his actions had caused.
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A second man, Korri McLean, is due to be sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court on a date not yet set.
The 30-year-old, from Rayfield in Epping, was also convicted last month of one count of fraud by false representation in using the MP's card details to buy goods to the value of £1,080
Ms Dorries said: "This kind of sophisticated technology enabled theft can affect anyone and I am so grateful to the police for arresting these criminals."
Detective Constable Warren Joseph, from the City of London Police, said: "Today's result is a great example of the whole system coming together to tackle fraud effectively.
"Through the good work of the banks and the online retail industry to prevent suspicious transactions, the victim in this case is not out of pocket. Despite this, Ms Dorries, correctly, still made a report to Action Fraud, which meant we were able to track down those responsible for the offence and bring them before the courts."
