Milkshake fraudster back behind bars for more compo cons

A compensation conman who tried to get a payout over a faulty milkshake cup is facing another lengthy stretch in jail after admitting more than a dozen new offences.

Ian Patrick McEnroe told shop staff his wife had been injured by various products – in one case needing stitches from opening a tube of vitamin tablets – in order to get a refund.

In one case, when staff said they didn’t believe him, he started shouting and threatening to “go to the papers” until the frightened shop manager handed over £50 in cash.

McEnroe, 62, has been using the same trick for more than 40 years, racking up a staggering 180 previous convictions for fraud and theft.

He was jailed in January for 26 weeks while already serving a 25 month sentence imposed in October 2025 for similar offences in Croydon and Sussex.

At that hearing, the bench at Brighton Magistrates Court, chaired by Thomas Wands, made a criminal behaviour order banning him from asking for compensation without disclosing his record.

At the same court today, he pleaded guilty to five counts of breaching the order in April and May this year – suggesting he was released from prison early.

He also admitted seven counts of fraud by false representation – five in relation to the same offences in Maidstone and Broadstairs, and two earlier offences from 10 and 12 December last year when he told a branch of Sainsbury’s in Brighton that Christmas crackers were faulty, netting him a total of £60 in compensation.

The court was told he is now back behind bars for breaching his licence. By chance, Mr Wands was chairing the bench once again, and remanded him in custody to await sentencing at Maidstone Crown Court.

Defending, Maggie Bigalou said in her experience, it can currently take as long as nine months to get a sentencing date at that court. McEnroe protested: “It’s not fair I sit on remand for nine months.”

He was told his lawyers would be writing to the court to argue that point.

Prosecuting, Adekunle Adeyemi said he scammed TK Maxx in Broadstairs on 13 April by claiming his wife had hurt herself on bedding he had taken off the shelves just minutes earlier. He was refunded £90.

On 8 May at Hobbycraft in Maidstone, he claimed to have bought products on a former day, but the staff member checked records and found no such sale had been made then, and refused his refund request.

Mr Adeyemi said: “On 9 May at Grape Tree in Maidstone, he went to the vitamin section and requested a refund claiming his wife had opened a tub and cut her hand requiring five stitches.

“He said he had spoken to head office who had said he should get a refund.

“When his request was refused, he became angry and demanded to speak to the manager and tried to get to the till. He said he would go to the papers.

“The shop manager was intimidated and frightened and issued him with a refund of £50 in cash.”

The other shops he scammed were ToyTown and Weigh to Wear in Maidstone, both on 9 May.

McEnroe previous tall tales include getting an electric shock from a Christmas ornament, a bloodied bunch of flowers, glass in ice cubes and razor blades in toys.

One of his most recent scams was telling the Sunbean Cafe in Eastbourne his granddaughter had cut her lip on a paper milkshake cup the previous day, causing her to bleed all over his car upholstery. The cafe manager refused his request as she knew she hadn’t sold a milkshake that day.

McEnroe, who gave his address as no fixed abode, has been provisionally committed to Maidstone Crown Court for a hearing on 30 September, but the court was advised it was likely the court would write to him to change the date.