Crying woman jailed over Christmas iPad fraud

Kirsty Cox, a mother-of-two, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, caused misery to children at Christmas 2012 after tricking their parents into thinking she could source them the highly-valued presents, Judge George Moorhouse said at Teesside Crown Court.

In what was a “ludicrous” situation, she spent £1.52m on full-price iPads from PC World and was selling them at a loss to some customers, after taking thousands of orders, Paul Cleasby, defending, said.

By the time Cox was arrested in December 2012, angry customers were gathering outside her home, demanding to know what had happened to their orders.

After she was arrested, she was kept in custody for her own safety, such was the anger she caused locally.

Previously, she pleaded guilty four counts of fraud totalling £450,000 said to have occurred between August and December 2012.

Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said the actual loss to customers was more than £1.1m.

Cox used her “niceness” as part of the con trick, which spiralled out of control as word spread about the good deals she was offering, a former business partner said.

Neil Hathaway, who ran a successful communications firm, said in a statement read out in court that people were contacting him to ask what had happened to iPad orders they had placed with Cox.

“I started looking through some of Kirsty’s paperwork in the office,” he said.

“I rang Kirsty and asked her what on earth was going on. How had the business catapulted to this size?

“Was she paying VAT and was she fulfilling the orders? On every level she reassured me with what I now know to be lies.”

Later, Mr Hathaway received a call from Cox to say she was lying low in a Middlesbrough hotel.

His firm lost £40,000 as a result of the scam, the court heard.

“Kirsty has clearly traded on my good name from the business I have set up and nurtured.

“I am shocked by the extent of the deception and I am hurt.

“Kirsty has taken people’s trust. She is an articulate, well-presented lady and has used her ‘niceness’ to deceive people.”

Judge Moorhouse jailed Cox despite hearing that her family had suffered while she spent six months on remand.

“You have two young children who suffered miserably while you were on remand,” he told her as she wept in the dock.

“I am afraid they are going to suffer even more.”