item not received?

custardy

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/09/30/caernarfon-woman-denies-gucci-bag-ebay-fraud-55578-21926459/

A WOMAN who bought a Gucci handbag from online auction site eBay pretended it never arrived and demanded her money back, a court was told yesterday.

But Lucy Webber was found out after she showed off the bag to work colleagues at the Royal Mail customer service office at Bangor, it was alleged.

Webber, 35, of Rhosgadfan near Caernarfon, denies fraud at Caernarfon Crown Court.

She claims the bag she showed her workmates was a replica, similar to the one advertised on the website, but bought while she was on holiday in Spain.

Prosecutor John Oates said Gemma Grant, from Market Harborough, Leicestershire, placed the Gucci handbag on the auction site in February last year.

Mr Oates said: “The auction ended on March 2 and Mrs Grant was notified by eBay the handbag had been bought by someone, the defendant.

“She also received notification the payment of £41 had been made to her PayPal account. She packaged up the handbag and sent it off.”

Mr Oates said that when Webber saw the handbag she decided she didn’t like it.

Giving evidence, Mrs Grant said she had been selling items on ebay since March 2006 and had an excellent customer feedback.

She said the black leather bag measured nine inches square and had black cane handles and was described as being in “very good condition”.

Mrs Grant said she was contacted by Webber about two weeks after she mailed the package to her.

Quizzed by Mr Oates, she agreed Webber had advised her to make a complaint to the Royal Mail in order to get some of her money back.

Later, while the matter was under investigation, Mrs Grant received several e-mails from Webber asking if her description of the bag was accurate.

Mrs Grant said the e-mails described how the genuine Gucci bag she had sold Webber was said to be similar to a replica bought by Webber on holiday in Spain.

Cross-examined by Kim Halsall, defending, Mrs Grant said the eBay description of the handbag was accurate “to the best of my knowledge”.

Mr Oates said it may have ended with the Royal Mail forced to pay compensation had Webber not shown the bag to some of her work colleagues at the Royal Mail office in Deiniol Road, Bangor.

“The matter may have ended there if she (Webber) hadn’t altered an entry on Mrs Grant’s complaint about the non-delivery of the package on the Royal Mail computer system

She was interviewed by Royal Mail investigators.

She claimed the handbag shown to her colleagues was another handbag she had bought on eBay.

“But when eBay records were checked they revealed she had not bought any other handbags,” he said.

The trial continues.

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2008/10/02/caernarfon-woman-convicted-of-ebay-gucci-bag-fraud-55578-21951458/

A WOMAN who pretended a Gucci handbag she bought on eBay never arrived was today convicted of fraud and warned she could face jail.

Lucy Webber, 35, of Rhosgadfan near Caernarfon was convicted of fraud after a four-day trial at Caernarfon Crown Court.

The jury took just 31 minutes to decide a Gucci handbag, bought from the online auction site had been delivered and Webber had made false representations to get her money back from the seller, Gemma Grant, and the Royal Mail.

Adjourning sentence for reports the judge, Mr Recorder Wyn Lloyd Jones, said: "This is a serious matter. Not so much the amount, which is relatively small, but for the breach of trust.

"The fact that I am adjourning sentence for reports and allowing you bail does not mean anything in terms of the sentence. All sentencing options remain open."

The jury heard Webber bid for the black leather bag in March last year and paid £41 for it, but then claimed she never received the package.

The prosecution alleged Webber decided she didn't like the bag after she received it and pretended it never arrived in order to claim her money back from the seller.

But Webber was said to have shown off the bag to colleagues at the Royal Mail customer service office at Bangor.

During the trial Webber insisted the handbag was different from another she claimed to have bought on holiday in Spain.

Webber agreed she had told Royal Mail investigators three different versions of where the handbag came from, but claimed she was confused at the interview.

She told investigators she bought the second handbag from the eBay website but later claimed she bought it from another online auction site.

Before the end of the interview she changed her mind and said she bought the bag in Spain.

The court heard she refused to allow Royal Mail investigators to examine or photograph the bag until she had received legal advice during an interview .

The handbag, although crucial to Webber’s claim of innocence, had been lost by her during a night out, she claimed.

Prosecutor John Oates said during her trial that Webber had altered an entry on Mrs Grant’s complaint about the non delivery of the package on the Royal Mail computer system.

She was subsequently interviewed by Royal Mail investigators.

scbk

Typical Royal Mail employee, if it aint theft it's fraud :rotfl:

ArmitageShanks

Ebay and paypal must of increased RM claims no end.

I'm guessing with this prosecution being successful we'll be seeing more?

frivolous_fay

Gucci for £41?

Really?

Real Gucci?

WhySoHard_2

If they send her to prison for that then it's no surprise our prisons are over-full.

catmiaow

This woman sounds stupid for showing it off, surely you would know not to do that. Well u would think...She'll probably get a slapped wrist.

WhySoHard_2

catmiaow wrote: »

This woman sounds stupid for showing it off, surely you would know not to do that. Well u would think...She'll probably get a slapped wrist.

To be perfectly honest, in this day and age of knife crime and what have you, she really should not get anything more than a fine or possibly some community service and possibly the sack from her job (if she hasn't been sacked already). Prison is just absurd for this level of crime.

ArmitageShanks

WhySoHard wrote: »

If they send her to prison for that then it's no surprise our prisons are over-full.

She'll get a suspended sentace at worst. GB is probably one of the most lenient countries in terms of custodial sentences in the world.

WhySoHard_2

ArmitageShanks wrote: »

She'll get a suspended sentace at worst. GB is probably one of the most lenient countries in terms of custodial sentences in the world.

Would any country send a woman to prison for this crime? It's so smalltime and while it is sneaky and deceitful it's really not that huge a deal. Prison is meant to be for serious offenders who are, for one reason or another, a danger to society.

sarahg1969

The police and CPS have only taken an interest in this because the victim is the Royal Mail (the same way they've take on a complaint by the tax man).

If you or I complained of a similar thing, we'd get short shrift.

For example, the police and CPS are rarely interested in insurance fraud, because they see it as victimless, and the insurers are left to deal with the fraud themselves in the best way they can (by investigating and repudiating claims over and over again, because the scammers know there's no deterrent).

Postman

The police and cps were not involved in this case - the Royal Mail took the decision to prosecute. They took the view that the sum involved is irrelevant, its the principle that matters. Webber is no longer employed by RM and works in a shop. When she is sentenced she can expect community service and be hit hard for costs. If she'd admitted her guilt she may have been given a conditional discharge - ie don't do it again! It was her decision to fight it and to run a trial before a jury. This backfired on her rather spectacularly