A con man who scammed a TT fan out of £1,210 has been sentenced to 120 hours community service by magistrates.

Craig Philip Teare offered to rent bogus accommodation to a woman in the UK after telling her he was part of the island’s TT Homestay scheme.

Teare took £800 for a booking then asked for more cash to buy items for the property in advance of her stay.

The 35-year-old, of Tramman Rise, Anagh Coar, pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and was also ordered to pay back the £1,210 by the end of July or face 70 days in jail.

As we recorded when he appeared in court previously, that the victim reported Teare to the police in November 2020.

She said she had booked accommodation from June 5, 2021, to June 12, 2021, after Teare told her he had a property available for £840 which she paid to him.

However, after making the booking the woman said that Teare contacted her on a number of occasions and told her that a Homestay representative had visited the property and told him that some items were required.

Teare asked her to pay for the items and said he would pay her back.

She said that at first she had declined his requests for additional money but he persisted in asking, so she eventually agreed to forward more funds.

In total she paid £1,210 to him but never received anything back.

After she posted information on the TT Homestay Facebook page about the issue she was contacted by organisers of the scheme saying that Teare was not registered with them.

The woman then decided to give Teare time to pay her back but he never did.

He was eventually arrested and told police he had made efforts to pay her back but no evidence was found of this.

Teare told police the woman had blocked him on Facebook and told him not to contact her.

Teare has a previous conviction for fraud by false representation in November 2019 as well as ones for theft and handling stolen goods.

Defence advocate Paul Glover asked the magistrates to follow the recommendation of a probation report which had suggested community service as an appropriate sentence.

Mr Glover handed in letters of reference for his client as well as a letter of apology from Teare to the woman which he hoped would be forwarded.

The advocate said: ’This was not the most sophisticated of fraud matters. He was on Facebook, the complainant was aware of his name, his bank account details and where he was.’

Mr Glover asked the court to consider the Article eight human rights of his client’s young child and said that the probation report had rated Teare as a low risk of reoffending and harm to others.

’He is back at work full-time and is a highly-skilled labourer,’ said the advocate. ’In my submission his skills would be put to great use in the community.

’One of the most crucial parts of the sentence is that this lady gets her money back.

’In my submission, if the sentence is custody, she will have to wait a lot longer as he would have to find work again.’

Mr Glover went on to say that Teare said he hoped this did not reflect badly on the Isle of Man and make people think that all people here are scammers.

Magistrates chair David Craine told Teare: ’This particular fraud is a nasty offence.

’You’ve come pretty close to a custodial sentence but we will go along with the recommendation of community service.’