A convicted fraudster who was banned from all betting shops in England and Wales has been jailed for carrying out a sophisticated scam in west Wales. Jason Haddigan, 45, drove from London to Carmarthenshire in May 2019 to target two independent bookmakers, Swansea Crown Court heard.
Haddigan, who now uses the name George White, tricked staff at Ken Howells bookmakers in Ammanford into paying out £1,000 on a forged betting slip. He then repeated the same scam the following day at Bet Ed bookmakers in Narberth, netting a further £1,780.63. The fraud involved a deliberately scribbled slip, sleight of hand, and detailed knowledge of betting shop procedures.
The court heard Haddigan had been convicted in 2014 for his role in a nationwide conspiracy that defrauded more than 30 Ladbrokes shops. He was sentenced to 14 months in prison and made subject to a five-year antisocial behaviour order banning him from all bookmakers—an order he was still under when he committed the Welsh offences.
Haddigan was identified from CCTV images and arrested at Gatwick Airport in October 2019. He later offered to provide information on a multi-million pound fraud in Kent in exchange for a deal on the Welsh charges, but the offer was not accepted. The case was delayed for a year as the file went back and forth between police and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Haddigan, of Fishbourne Road East, Chichester, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud. He has 23 previous convictions for 68 offences, including 22 for fraud. His barrister said his offending stemmed from a gambling addiction, for which he had sought help from Gamblers Anonymous. Recorder Aidan Eardley sentenced him to a total of 14 months in prison, giving a 25 per cent discount for his guilty pleas.
