John Bailey -The Pencil Man

What was his forum name?

Banned from the bookies, Bailey turned his hand to online betting exchange Betfair – where punters can bet against themselves – using numerous other people’s accounts after his own was blocked.

John Bailey betting con reconstruction November 2002John Bailey betting con reconstruction November 2002
Bailey said: “I just opened accounts in other people’s names with the knowledge of other people – many, many accounts, even accounts that haven’t been mentioned in this case.”

A jury dismissed his defence that his victims knew how their money was being used and convicted him of five counts of fraud between 2009 and 2013. He was cleared of a further three charges.

Andrew West, who prosecuted the case, told the jury Bailey first took money off people by lying, on his own or with an accomplice, before telling them it was for gambling.

He said Bailey then he told them to give him more money or they wouldn’t be able to get the original investment back.

Large amounts of this money went through other people’s accounts and only a few thousand pounds of it was ever returned.

His victims now face an anxious wait to see if any of their losses can be recouped through the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Mr West said: “John Bailey used his powers of persuasion to encourage people to ‘invest’ in him and his alleged businesses. However, instead he used these sums of money to fund his prolific, and disastrous, gambling habit.

“This was entirely dishonest. Not only did he lie to investors in order to gamble with their money, he also then demanded further betting money from them, in order to regain their original savings that he had lost. This cycle of debt continued with some victims losing hundreds of thousands of pounds. One victim lost just over £2m.

“Far from appreciating the damage he had wrought, John Bailey continued to gamble and deceive investors, breaching a previous ban of holding a specific betting account. Known as the ‘Pencil Man’ because he always carried a pencil when visiting betting shops, he has now been held to account for the substantial losses and distress he caused his victims.”