Two men have been sentenced after using a fake banking app to steal a £2,000 graphics card advertised on Facebook Marketplace.
Shane McDonagh, 27, from Blackburn, Lancashire, received a total prison sentence of three years and six months, including 18 months for theft, fraud, and assault charges related to the graphics card theft. He was also ordered to pay a £190 victim surcharge.
Eamon Maughan, 23, from Little Billington, Bedfordshire, was handed a 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work, and ordered to pay £1,050 in compensation after pleading guilty to theft.
The incident occurred on January 3, 2022, when police responded to a report of a fight at Tesco Extra in Addlestone. The victim had advertised a £2,100 graphics card on Facebook Marketplace and was contacted by the pair.
Maughan drove McDonagh to meet the victim while acting as lookout. McDonagh showed a fake Bank of Ireland app on his phone, falsely claiming he had transferred the money. When the victim realized the payment was fake and tried to retrieve the card, McDonagh assaulted him, then fled with Maughan.
A lengthy investigation involving CCTV, ANPR, and Facebook records identified the men, who had traveled from Northolt to Addlestone and back on the day of the crime. Both were arrested months later.
McDonagh was additionally convicted of a similar offence in Lancashire in early 2025, involving theft of a high-value watch and threatening the victim. His sentence for the Lancashire offences was two years, served concurrently.
The victim spoke of the traumatic impact on his mental and physical health, thanking police and support teams for their help.
Detective Sergeant Daniel Bell praised the victim’s patience and warned criminals that those traveling to commit crimes will be caught and prosecuted.
