A man who carried out a confidence scam he saw on a television show has been fined £200 and ordered to pay £270 in compensation.
Carl Nevill, 23, from Underwood Road, New Addington, carried out the scams in upmarket eateries in Maidstone Kent.
The con, which he saw on the television show The Real Hustle involved Nevill complaining about wine being spilled on him by waiters.
He would then email the restaurants a fake dry cleaning receipt for £9 he had printed off the internet and would add a zero to the cheque that was returned to compensate him.
He was caught after trying to cash four of the cheques at the same time in a Kent shop.
Nevill was fined £200 at Maidstone Magistrates' Court on November 30 after admitting two counts of fraud by false representation.
PC Steve Hobbs of Maidstone Police investigating the case, said: “Although people may be tempted to try out the cons portrayed in programmes like 'The Real Hustle', they have to remember there are also real consequences.
“Unlike the television hustlers, real con artists can cause untold misery and deserve to be dealt with accordingly."
Nevill was ordered to pay compensation to ‘The Fat Duck’ in London, Rick Stein’s ‘The Seafood Restaurant’ in Cornwall and ‘The White Horse’ in Brancaster Staithe.
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