Conman scooped paper's cash

Purches was supplied with cash and documents

A man who conned the Daily Record out of £1,500 by inventing a false scoop for the paper has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Daniel Purches arranged to meet investigative journalist Malcolm MacDonald in Edinburgh claiming he had a sensational, exclusive story.

Purches, who has 99 previous convictions for dishonesty, told Mr MacDonald that a ring of city lawyers were selling fake passports to Albanians for £5,000 each.

He then persuaded Mr MacDonald to supply him with money and documents before disappearing to London, where he was caught.

Purches, 36, said he required documents to give to the supposed lawyers in order to acquire a fake passport as part of the planned sting.

He was making the story up as he went along

Matthew Auchincloss
Defence lawyer

Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that Mr MacDonald handed over his own licence, Halifax cheque book, a bank card and a visa card.

He then gave the conman £1,500 to set up a passport deal with the criminal ring.

Mr MacDonald drove Purches to a spot in central Edinburgh where the fraudster claimed he handed over the documents and the cash to the ring leaders of the scam.

The journalist and the conman then went to a hotel to await further contact when Purches suddenly said he had left something behind in the car.

When he left to get it and never returned the journalist realised he had been duped and phoned the police.

Purches, of Alan Breck Gardens, Clermiston, Edinburgh was arrested in London on 12 December and found with Mr MacDonald's cards which were returned to the reporter.

'Unusual case'

A mobile phone given to him by the paper and the £1,500 were not recovered.

Defence agent Matthew Auchincloss said that Purches had telephoned the newspaper on the spur of the moment and had not targeted Mr MacDonald specifically.

"He was making the story up as he went along," the lawyer said.

He added: "This is an unusual case. The victim was a newspaper. He did not defraud a private individual who would suffer financial hardship."

Prosecutor Graeme Jessop told Sheriff Kathrine Mackie that the father-of-three had been on licence for another fraud at the time he conned Mr MacDonald.

Sheriff Mackie ordered the prisoner to serve the remaining eight months of his previous sentence and then jailed him for two further years.