King’s Lynn man who found purse bought whiskey, tobacco and food using woman’s bank card

Aug 16, 2023

A Lynn man was in court after finding a woman's purse on the floor and using her bank card to go shopping.

Daniel Parsons, 28, of Bransby Close, admitted to the offence of fraud at the town's magistrates court on Thursday.

It comes after Parsons found a purse on Loke Road on April 15 and decided to pick it up and go to the Premier off-licence.

Prosecutor Stephen Munton told the magistrates that Parsons used a bank card inside the purse to buy a bottle of whiskey, tobacco and various food items totalling £50.99.

Parsons attempted to use the card again to buy more tobacco but it was declined after its owner detected fraudulent activity.

Police then began to investigate the use of the card and monitored the shop's CCTV where they identified Parsons buying tobacco and other items.

Parsons was then arrested and admitted using the bank card in police interview.

Mitigating was Andrew Cogan, who described the events as an "opportunistic theft."

"He made the fatal mistake of trying to buy more tobacco," said Mr Cogan.

He continued: "He was going through a tough time, his daughter was taken into care of the authorities and his uncle died recently.

"He accepts it was a stupid thing to do, he knows he should have handed the purse to the police.

"He has apologised to the victim after finding her on Facebook."

Magistrates, led by William Hush, fined Parsons £80 for committing the offence along with a victim surcharge of £32.

He was also ordered to pay £51 in compensation back to the victim whose purse was stolen.

"You can give her the extra penny," said Mr Hush.