Lymm man sold fake watch worth £100 for £2,650

A 23-year-old man from Lymm sold a fake watch for £2,650 – even giving his victim a certificate of authenticity.
But in fact the watch was worth only £100.
Magistrates at Warrington ordered Harry Herbert, of Springbank Gardens, Lymm to repay the money to his victim – a 67-year-old man from Merseyside – after he pleaded guilty to fraud by misrepresentation.
They also made him the subject of a nine-week curfew, with electronic monitoring and ordered him to pay £85 court costs and an £85 victim surcharge.
The court was told Herbert sold the “Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph” in March, knowing it to be a fake. He had advertised it via a classified advertisement and community website.
But his victim subsequently went to jewellery stores who confirmed that both the watch and the certificates were fakes. They valued the watch at around £100.
A jewellery store later told investigating police officers that Herbert had been informed that the watch was a fake in 2017 when they had assessed it for him. He signed a form confirming that he had been given this information.
Presented with the overwhelming evidence officers obtained against him, Herbert originally agreed to receive a caution and attend a victim awareness course on condition he repaid the money.
But he failed to adhere to the condition of repaying the victim so the case was sent to the courts.