Scammer used Facebook and Gumtree to sting customers - advertising a Leeds flat for rent that wasn't his

Experienced fraudster Kenneth Arthur Denton also ripped off people on Facebook Marketplace, advertising camping trailers for sale, and managed to eek more than £8,000 out of buyers, with only a fraction being repaid or recovered by the banks.

Denton, who turned 58 yesterday on the day he appeared at Leeds Crown Court, admitted 15 counts of fraud.

Prosecutor Jessica Heggie said that Denton had put the large five-bedroom Leeds property for rent on the classifieds website, Gumtree, in early 2018 and had several inquiries. He had rented the property himself from the owner.

He would ask for deposit money and when the money was received, he would simply keep the cash.

Denton, who is on life licence for an indeterminate sentence he was given in 2009 for fraud and threats to kill, was returned to prison after his arrest.

But after serving another 13 months, he was released and cooked up another scam involving the camping trailers. People would inquire and pay either deposits or the full amount, but he would then make excuses, including telling one victim that his sister had died.

Twelve of the 15 fraud offences were related to the trailer fraud, with three connected to the flat-rental scam. Overall, £8,182 was fraudulently received, with just less than £1,900 either paid back or recovered.

The court heard that Denton, of St Mary’s Close, South Elmsall, has 17 convictions for 38 previous offences, 16 of which were for fraud.

Little mitigation was offered by his barrister, Victoria Smith-Swain, after Judge Simon Batiste indicated he was not looking at returning him to prison.

He told him: “This is not an easy case and you have previous convictions for dishonesty in the past. You received an indeterminate sentence in 2009 and you are subject to life licence, but you didn’t have any convictions since then.”

He handed him a two-year jail sentence but opted to suspend it for two years. He also gave him 220 hours of unpaid work, but warned him that if he breaches the terms, he will be returned to jail.