Wallpaper hanging offence uncovered

Stephen Lee embarked on a year-long project to make crude black and white photocopies of the notes to one side of A4 paper to plaster his walls and a coffee table at his South Street home in the resort.

However, the unemployed 45-year-old was arrested by North Yorkshire Police officers as the copying of currency constitutes an offence of counterfeiting.

York Crown Court heard that police officers were called as a result of inquiries to another property in King Street in Scarborough, where they were handed a bag full of copied notes by the occupier.

The officers then went to Lee’s home and conducted a search, during which they recovered more copies of the bank notes.

When he was interviewed, Lee told police that he had planned the unusual art project to decorate his home.

He was then charged with counterfeiting £5, £10 and £20 notes between January and December of 2009.

During a sentencing hearing which was held at York Crown Court, Judge Stephen Ashurst stressed that the offence normally carries with it a jail term.

But Lee escaped with a 12-month conditional discharge after he pleaded guilty to the offence.

The court was told that his copies were poor and he had no intention of passing them on into public circulation.