Telford teen handed suspended setence for making fake tenners

Ashok Bhatia was caught out when police raided his home after he paid for a Domino's in Telford with counterfeit cash.

Officers found one fake note and machinery including an embossing machine and a printer, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard.

Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said Bhatia and another Asian man visited and paid Rebecca Blakemore £290 in £10 notes for a mobile phone she had advertised for sale on November 30, 2012.

She soon discovered all of the notes had the same serial number and were fake, Mr Jones said.

The prosecutor told the court Bhatia answered another advert five days later, paying Simon Beddows £170 in £10 notes.

"Mr Beddows attempted to use one of the notes he had been given to buy some milk at the supermarket and was informed it was counterfeit," Mr Jones told the court.

"Again it was noted they all had the same serial numbers."

The Domino's order and subsequent police raid took place on April 2 last year, the court heard.

Bhatia, 19, of Chesterfield Road, Dawley, Telford, admitted five charges of producing and using counterfeit £10 notes.

Mr Mike Sherwood-Smith, for Bhatia, said his client had insisted on taking full responsibility for the frauds.

"There are clearly two people present when the mobile phones are taken," he told the court.

"But we are no wiser as to the identification of that person, or what role that person took in the offences."

Mr Sherwood-Smith said his client had been in care since the age of nine and had a very difficult upbringing.

"Clearly he felt that it was not as serious as the law would have you believe," the defence counsel added.

"He was short of cash and the opportunity presented itself. At the time of the offences he was only 17 or 18."

Recorder Graham Cliff, sentencing Bhatia, said: "These are very, very serious matters.

"They undermine the whole financial basis of our country, and consequently people who commit such offences normally go to prison.

"But I have to take into account your age when you committed the offences, and the fact you were somewhat naïve."

Recorder Cliff sentenced Bhatia to 15 months in a young offenders institution, but opted to suspend the prison term for a period of two years.

It means Bhatia will receive no further punishment unless he re-offends in that 24-month period.

The teenager was also ordered to comply with a 12-month supervision order with the probation service and complete 200 hours of unpaid work.