A former public schoolboy who swindled a close friend out of almost £20,000 after he became hooked on gambling has been spared jail.
Amer Siddique, 38, stole bank card details belonging to professional poker player Luke Brereton and used the money to place bets on football matches and horse racing.
Over a three-week period in October 2018, Siddique, of Oakamoor, Staffordshire, squandered £19,399 on betting, draining his friend’s bank account and leaving him with just £300.
A court heard that Mr Brereton only learned the truth when Siddique sent him a WhatsApp message confessing: ‘Mate, I f***ed up. I will pay it back. Gambling got out of hand. I f***ed up.’
Siddique admitted fraud by false representation and was handed a 12-month community order at Chester Crown Court. TRENDING
Border battle! Shocking moment migrants waving Venezuelan flag ATTACK CBP officers with rocks during ugly riot in El Paso: Agents fired pepper balls and ultimately repelled large group back into Mexico 1.8k viewing now Migos’ manager says rapper Takeoff, 28, was killed by a STRAY bullet following dispute at Houston bowling alley – as harrowing witness footage emerges showing band member Quavo arguing with large group of people just moments before gunfire rang out 1.4k viewing now Biden’s gaffe-filled speech: President refers to congresswoman as ‘senator’, claims son Beau died in Iraq and makes bizarre claim he met the ‘inventor’ of insulin – a naturally occurring hormone discovered in 1921 2.3k viewing now
Mr Brereton, in his 30s, said in a statement to police: ‘At first I questioned my own sanity as I did not know how this could have happened.
‘I’m heartbroken as Amer was such a close friend. I consider myself a loyal and trustworthy person but I feel this was misplaced with him.’
He added: ‘Being a professional poker player may seem to an outsider to be easy money – but it’s not.’I have worked very hard to develop and keep a hold of it and it takes years of building and sacrifice. The money in that bank account was my entire UK net worth.’The court heard that Siddique had worked as a […]
Click here to view original web page at www.dailymail.co.uk
