John Clugston (pictured), 73, from Brighton, went to Soho-based independent entertainment company Parkland Pictures offering tickets to the tennis event in 2018
A con artist dubbed ‘Champagne Charlie’ who once fooled the boss of Prince Harry’s charity is facing jail for selling bogus corporate packages for Wimbledon.
John Clugston, 73, from Brighton, went to Soho-based independent entertainment company Parkland Pictures offering tickets to the tennis event in 2018.
He told employee John Cairns his name was David and he was from The Friendly Society.
He offered a ‘premium’ deal for £1,500 including a pair of tickets, food, transport, and a meet-and-greet service, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.
Mr Cairns accepted the offer and dashed off to a cashpoint to pay Clugston, and never saw the crook again who vanished with the money.
Clugston has an appalling criminal record including 96 previous fraud offences.
He was jailed for 15 months in 2016 for tricking Sentebale’s chief executive Cathy Ferrier out of £1,000 by selling her Wimbledon tickets he did not have.
Sentebale was founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, South Africa, to help vulnerable children.
Clugston visited the company’s offices in Sloane Square offering four Wimbledon tickets, including full hospitality, and Mrs Ferrier handed him £1,000.
Clugston (left) told employee John Cairns (right) his name was David and he was from The Friendly Society
The fraudster claimed he was from fashion retailer Hackett, based in the same building and said he also had a number of spare tickets.
When he did not return Mrs Ferrier realised she had been conned.
Prosecutor Matthew Barrowcliffe said: ‘This defendant is a very experienced and skilled con artist and trickster.
‘It is a tried and tested modus operandi, the defendant has used it before and has worked.’
Mr Barrowcliffe told the court Clugston’s actions were ‘sophisticated’ and had been harness after a long history of fraud-related offences.
He added: ‘The complaint is a businessman, he is business savvy. It must have taken a great deal of skill to convince a man who he had just met to hand over the money, £1,500 in cash. He paid this defendant who vanished with the money.
‘He spoke with another member of the Friendly Society who confirmed this defendant is not a member of that society.’
Clugston’s offending began almost six decades ago in 1960 when he appeared before the then Marylebone Juvenile Court charged with theft.
Sentebale chief executive Cathy Ferrier (left) was conned for tickets by Clugston back in 2015
For the next 50 years he racked up convictions for offences of dishonesty and was jailed for three years for a champagne scam at the Old Bailey in 2008.
Judge Timothy Pontius had said: ‘You are without doubt a thoroughgoing dishonest rogue and you are plainly an incorrigible rogue.’
In 2011 Clugston was given a five-year sentence for a bubbly scam he carried out 31 times in five months for a profit of £19,500.
He visited offices around London pretending to have cases of leftover Bollinger and Dom Perignon from parties, and offering to sell it for knock down prices.
After taking cash, the fraudster vanished.
Clugston appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he was told he would be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on a date yet to be set
The judge who jailed Clugston in 2011 had dubbed him: ‘Champagne Charlie’ and described him as ‘a public menace and a repeat offender.’
At one point in his last hearing Clugston claimed he had not heard a thing Mr Bryan had said about him.
Asked why he wasn’t wearing a hearing aid Clugston replied: ‘Didn’t know it was that bad.’
District Judge Nicholas Rimmer had to raise his voice after the 73-year-old said he could not hear him.
Judge Rimmer said: ‘This is a case which is beyond the powers of this court. This is a matter of sophisticated nature.’
Clugston admitted one count of fraud by false representation. Judge Rimmer granted Clugston unconditional bail ahead of sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on a date yet to be set.