Ex-Marine jailed over bank scam

AN ex-Royal Marine who fell into a spiral of drink and drug taking after leaving the forces was jailed for four months yesterday for a failed bank account scam.

The Old Bailey heard that Simon Summers, 36, of Thornton Road, Bootle, Merseyside, had served four and a half years in the Marines but quit in 2002

He worked as a security contractor in Iraq for a year but was shot in the leg and returned home where, possibly suffering post-traumatic stress disorder, he "descended into a world of drink and drugs", said Tony Meisels, mitigating.

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He was threatened by cocaine dealers who said he owed them 10,000, the court heard.

In February this year, he went into a branch of Barclays Bank in Fleet Street, central London, and tried to withdraw 8,500 from another man's account.

Checks established that Summers was not who he claimed to be but by then he had walked out of the branch leaving the false passport there. He tried to carry out a similar scam weeks later but was caught and sentenced to six months in jail

While he was in custody a prison officer recognised him from a wanted photograph in the police gazette.

Summers was given a fresh sentence yesterday after pleading guilty to possession of a false identity document and fraud.