Conman who pretended to be held hostage to extort money from his victim jailed

A CONMAN who went as far as pretending to be held hostage to extort money from his victim has been jailed for four years.

Richard Tinmouth, 28, of Hatton Avenue, Slough, carried out fraud to illegally obtain more than £16,000 from a 25-year-old woman. The offences took place between July and December 2013, a court was told.

On July 11, 2013, Tinmouth’s associate, Richard Francis, 25, of Pemberton Road, Slough, took the victim to a pawn shop in Hayes to sell off some of her deceased aunt’s jewellery.

The money from these sales, a total of £766, was then given to Tinmouth, who claimed he was being threatened to pay off debts.

Then in August 2013, Tinmouth went to the victim’s home and stole jewellery and an iPod.

Finally, on December 14, 2013, Tinmouth pretended he had been kidnapped and was being held hostage and tried to extort money from the woman to pay for his release. Tinmouth was assisted by another associate, Shelley Tunesi, 28, of Oak Tree Drive, Slough, who sent text messages to the victim.

At Reading Crown Court on Monday last week, Tinmouth pleaded guilty to one count of blackmail, one count of theft within a dwelling, and three counts of fraud by false representation. One further fraud charge is to remain on file.

On Wednesday last week, he was sentenced to a total of four years in prison.

At the same court on May 28 this year, Tunesi pleaded guilty to one count of blackmail. She was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment on Wednesday last week.

Francis pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation at the court on Monday last week. He was sentenced to 14 months behind bars on Wednesday last week.

Detective Constable Stefanie Day, the investigating officer based at Maidenhead police station, said after the sentencings: “I hope these sentences will give a sense of justice to the victim, who has shown great courage throughout our investigation and the subsequent court hearings.” Tinmouth was arrested on December 14, 2013, before being charged on February 14 this year. Tunesi was also arrested on December 14, 2013 before being charged on January 27 this year. Francis was arrested in July 2014 and charged on February 4 this year.