Saxilby: Con-man jailed for unpaid hotel bills

Neil Baumber made a series of excuses as to why he could not pay his bills leaving behind a trail of unpaid debts.

He also tricked a barmaid from Saxilby into paying £520 for a cheap designer handbag and pocketed her money without producing the goods.

The court heard that at the time he was still on licence after being released early from a previous jail sentence imposed for similar offences.

Baumber, 39, of Station Road, Collingham, admitted six charges of dishonestly obtaining services by deception and a further charge of making a false representation for gain on dates between 14th June and 10th August. He asked for a further five similar matters to be taken into consideration.

Nikki Forster, prosecuting, said the latest series of offences began when Baumber booked into the Tower Hotel in Lincoln, for an eight day stay.

He produced a credit card and ran up a bill of £1,400. On leaving he re-booked and said he would settle the bill when he returned but later contacted the hotel claiming he had been admitted to hospital.

The bill was never paid and a few days later he booked into the White Hart. He booked for seven days with his bill coming to £1,270.

This time he claimed to be awaiting the arrival of a credit card and disappeared without paying. Again he emailed the hotel saying he had been admitted to hospital.

Miss Forster said Baumber ran up further bills during stays at the Hilton Hotel, the 202 Guest House and the Admiral Guest House.

He also left behind a £35 bill for unpaid taxi journeys and befriended a barmaid at the Anglers’ Hotel in Saxilby before convincing her could supply her with a cut price Louis Vuitton handbag for £520. She handed over the money but the bag never materialised.

Sunil Khanna, defending, said that at the time Baumber had personal problems and booked into the hotels when he was thrown out by his partner. He said that at the same time Baumber was trying to start a business and chose to use his money to support that rather than pay the bills.

Recorder Simon Medland QC ordered him to repay a total of £4,349 to his victims in compensation.