Mum branded 'one of the most morally bankrupt' as she clocks up 220 offences
A mother who has clocked up 220 offences during a 21-year criminal career of fraud was branded ''one of the most morally bankrupt women" by a judge yesterday.
Charmaine McAllister, who has appeared in courts 50 times, first went to jail when she was just 22 for stealing a handbag containing £600 at an equine event. Now aged 37, McAllister's latest crime saw her masquerade as a police officer, bank worker, soldier and advertising executive from Horse and Hound magazine to carry out credit scams and defraud dozens of victims out of more than £100,000 altogether.
The mum of three was arrested again after she defrauded three car dealerships by acquiring vehicles, including two BMWs using stolen credit card details and then quickly selling them on to others for cash. She was jailed for another 15 months at Chester Crown Court yesterday.
Sentencing the prolific crook, Judge Steven Everett said: ''I have been around for quite a long time now but I do not remember any person male or female, who has committed so many frauds. Her record is as bad as I have seen. She is without a doubt the most dishonest woman I have come across."
The mother, from Lincolnshire, has clocked up 220 offences during a 21-year criminal career (Charmaine McAllister/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)He added: "This is a truly tangled web and totally brazen dishonesty. You are a sophisticated fraudster to be sure, a fraudster without any morals whatsoever, without any regret about what you do. You are one of the most morally bankrupt persons I have ever come across. Nothing is too small for you to steal or defraud and I'm not convinced that you are going to change. As time goes by you just get longer and longer prison sentences that will protect the public for a little while.
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"You have had a total of 50 different court appearances which is mind boggling and your set of previous convictions are the worst I have ever seen for a fraudster. You must be thinking about fraud whenever you come out of prison, time and time again. You have lied to the courts about what you are going to do, lied about your illnesses and you have even stolen from your own mother in the past. You are truly a despicable person. I am quite sure that you will say anything you can to try to reduce your sentence so that you can get out and carry on and just help yourself.''
During her two-decade-long spree, McAllister spent her stolen cash on luxury cars, cosmetic surgery, hotel stays and designer clothing - and in one incident stole money from her own mother.
McAllister splurged some the latest ill-gotten gains on a £6,500 Hyundai car from a dealership in Warrington, Cheshire, before she sold the car to a dealer in Chorley, Lancashire for £4,000. She also used the same details to acquire a BMW for £2,895 from a dealership in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, and even stole a second credit card from a staff member when she turned up in person to collect the vehicle.
McAllister is banned from every equestrian centre in Britain after targeting horse riders (Charmaine McAllister/ Cavendish Press (Manchester) Ltd)She subsequently used that credit card to buy groceries at Sainsburys, an overnight stay at a Ramada hotel and various items on Gumtree. She later sold on the BMW to a private buyer for £500 after falsely claiming she was due to go on a tour of Syria with the British Army. In a separate con, McAllister used a stolen credit card from Ireland to get a £4,995 BMW 1 Series car from a dealership in Crewe, Cheshire before selling it onto another garage in nearby Deeside for £2,500.
The mother, currently banned from every equestrian centre in Britain after targeting horse riders attending village shows and dressage events in previous offences, was detected this time when clients who unwittingly bought the vehicles were stopped by police. Later identified from CCTV images, the defendant was detained and appeared in court, which heard details of her first jail term in 2008 for the theft of the handbag at an equine event and other offences, such as her raid of unattended horse boxes while riders were competing at another event in 2015, and offering non-existent riding accessories for sale.
Miss Laura Knightly, prosecuting, told the court all the money made from the latest fraud, for which McAllister pretended to be a police officer, bank worker, soldier and advertising executive, has gone.
Myles Wilson, who was defending the woman from Boston, Lincolnshire, said: "She made admissions in an interview and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity - but I should say on her behalf I can not disagree with Your Honour’s assessment of her.
"Some reports were prepared by a psychologist and a psychiatrist to try and get some insight and both assessed her as having a personality disorder and behaving impulsively.
''She tells me that she is undertaking a cognitive behavioural therapy course in prison to get an insight into her self destructive behaviour. She has enrolled on an Open University degree course in sports science and on the day of her release she has teed up for herself treatment and therapy. She doesn't want to waste her life in prison.''
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