A fuel thief has been banned from every petrol station in England and Wales – despite not owning a car.
Paul Fagg, 60, ran up bills of £3,690 in a scam where he pretended to have forgotten his wallet after filling up at one of the pumps.
Unemployed Fagg would then promise to settle the bill in a week but left a fake address and never returned.
In a four-month crime spree, Fagg, who uses a stick to walk, stole fuel on 41 different occasions in a suspected fuel-to-order plot.
Prosecutor Harry Hewitt told Canterbury Crown Court: “He had gone into the stations in a Range Rover, a Daimler and at the other end of the spectrum, a Renault Scenic.
“They were not his vehicles and he is believed to have been used by others.”
After pleading guilty to fraud, Fagg was banned from all 7,111 outlets selling fuel in England and Wales.
He also received a 12 month jail sentence, suspended for two years, for fraud, which took place between May and August last year.
Judge Adele Williams told Fagg, of Shepway, Kent, he would go to prison if he breached the order.
She said: “You behaved in a thoroughly dishonest way, verging on professionally dishonesty because of the number of vehicles involved suggests that you were filling vehicles up with fuel to order.
“You are 60 and have a bad record of dishonesty, it’s time you gave up committing offences.”
Mitigating, Phil Rowley said Hewitt was unemployed because of health difficulties and that he did not own a car.
Judge Williams added: “You could have no complaints had I sent you immediately to prison but I have concluded I can suspend the sentence for three reasons.
“Firstly you have pleaded guilty, secondly because of your serious health problems but finally because I believe I can prevent you from committing this particular type of offence again.”
Fagg will also have to wear an electronic tag and stay at home between 9pm and 7am for the next four months.
