A conman who passed scores of counterfeit £20 and £50 notes and sold a student a fake iPhone has been jailed for more than two years.
Luke Best, 27, used the notes to pay and get change for takeaways and donuts and to pay for a Macbook he bought via Facebook.
He also sold a student a fake iPhone for £650.
The court heard that after the seven offences he was sentenced for today took place, he had also been caught with a batch of fake £20 notes in Itsu in Fleet Street, London.
He also has a string of convictions for shoplifting in Brighton -the most recent of which he was sentenced for just six days before he started passing fake notes.
Sentencing, Judge Anne Arnold said he had been “thoroughly dishonest”.
She said: “This type of offending undermines the economy.
“It’s likely to result in great loss being sustained by people who find themselves in possession of counterfeit notes only to discover that they’re entirely worthless.”
Prosecuting, Naomi Edwards said that the spree started on 30 January last year, when he paid delivery driver Miss Jackson with a fake £50 for a pizza from Yummie Pizza.
As a result, £47.60 was docked from her wages.
Then on 6 February, using a Facebook account in the name of Kate Moorhouse, he arranged to sell an iphone to Mr Fukia, a student, who wanted to give his sister a graduation present.
Mr Fukia met him in Brading Road with his mother, who took a picture of Mr Best when she became suspicious.
In a victim impact statement read out in court, Mr Fukia said it had left him feeling angry and anxious and not wanting to talk to anyone but close family.
The same day, he bought a laptop from Mr Tuwachi after contacting him with a Facebook account in the name of Ruth Newton. They arranged to meet in St James’s Street where he passed over £720 in fake £20 notes.
Mr Tuwachi identified Best during an identification parade.
The following day, 7 February, he arranged to buy a laptop from Mr Balsden. They met outside a shop in Grand Parade where Best handed over £780 in fake £20 notes.
The police were able to get CCTV from the shop where they met and identify Best.
In a victim impact statement, Mr Balsden said: “Since the theft happened, it’s made me financially a lot worse off.
“As well as having the other one stolen, I have been put even further out of pocket as I’ve had to buy another laptop.
“I’ve felt the effects long after having it stolen.”
On 17 April, he was back in St James’s Street where he tried to buy a drink from Convenience Corner, but cashier Miss Jaggs spotted the fake and refused to give it back to him. He was caught on CCTV.
However, the staff at Dum Dums in Brighton Square were not so sure that the notes he was giving them were fake, and he managed to pay for donuts and drinks with fake notes – and get change in genuine currency – three times over 18 and 19 April.
Defending, Sarah Thorne said since being remanded in prison following his guilty plea in February this year, Best had made progress in coming off valium and trying to get his life back in order.
She said: “He has been in the grip of an addiction, he’s doing his best to reverse that. He will take the advice of probation and his family.
“He continues to reduce the valium, he’s on the list to complete NVQs in maths and English.
“He’s employable, he’s a painter and decorator and hopes to be able to get back into that sort of work.
“If he’s released he would be able to pay these people back.
“He’s a different person.”
Best was sentenced to 27 months for the passing of notes, and three months to run concurrently for selling the fake iPhone.
