A MAN who used false documents to defraud mobile phone stores in Bournemouth and Poole has been handed a suspended sentence.

On June 5 this year Matthew Lowe used a forged driving licence, headed paper and bank statement to persuade staff at the O2 shop in Commercial Road, Bournemouth, that he represented a company and needed two phones on a business contract.

The 29-year-old attempted the same deception at O2 stores in Wimborne Road and Poole High Street later that day, but was found out and caught.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard on Friday that Lowe, who used the name Matthew Cartwright in his scam, had taken £13,125 worth of phones from stores around the country, including those in Dorset.

Recorder Stephen Climie, who handed Lowe an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years, said the defendant had resorted to his “old ways” as Lowe had been convicted of a similar offence in 2009.

In mitigation, Tom Evans said Lowe had begun offending when his benefits were wrongly stopped.

He said the defendant was currently employed and had arranged accommodation, and would lose both if imprisoned, possibly leading to further offending in future.

Lowe, of South Road, Smethwick, Staffordshire, admitted four counts of fraud by false representation – relating to O2 stores in Bournemouth and Poole on June 5, and at O2 stores nationwide between February 28 and June 4.

He also pleaded guilty to one count of transferring criminal property and another of possessing articles for use in fraud.

He was ordered to undergo supervision for 18 months and attend the Thinking Skills programme for 60 days.

A Proceeds of Crime Act case is being pursued by the Crown to recover the cost of the phones.