ANDREW J ASQUITH IS THE SAME PERSON AS ANDREW BATCHELOR MENA

ANDREW J ASQUITH IS THE SAME PERSON AS ANDREW BATCHELOR

Some, valued at up to £30,000 each, were sold, the rest were pawned, London's Isleworth Crown Court was told.
One victim is understood to have lost property worth £47,000.
Police believe that ''charming'' Batchelor, 51, pocketed ''hundreds of thousands of pounds'', most of which he squandered on a flamboyant lifestyle.
It included £70-a-time haircuts at Vidal Sassoon, eyebrow shaping and eyelash tinting courtesy of Harrods, five star holidays and top hotels.
His victims included company directors, City accountants, hedge fund managers, lawyers, headmistresses and nurses.
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All were ensnared with a cocktail of dishonesty that included an impressive website, an upmarket address for his professionally-sounding but unregistered business - The Watch and Jewellery Exchange of Mayfair - and radio advertising.
Coupled with letter-headed notepaper, promises of top prices, his designer clothes and reassuring soft Scottish brogue, there was no shortage of customers.
Some wanted to dispose of their property to pay for a wedding, others because of broken engagements. One wanted to fund a charity mission to Africa.
A few were elderly and no longer wanted the anxiety or insurance costs of keeping valuables at home.
None suspected they were dealing with a fraudster whose curriculum vitae consisted largely of bankruptcy and dishonesty.
The conman was originally nicknamed the ''Glasgow Goldfinger'' following an earlier crime spree north of the border in the Nineties.
He was jailed for seven years - later reduced to five-and-a-half on appeal - for conning customers out of £400,000 of valuables at his jewellery shop in Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow.
After his release, he migrated south and returned to his old ways.
Those close to the case said that thereafter ''he could better be described as the Menace of Mayfair''.
His downfall was triggered when he targeted trainee solicitor Dipak Godhania after promising him a good price for a scratched Rolex.
They met in London's Dorchester Hotel and the timepiece exchanged hands.
But the £1,700 cheque Mr Godhania was given bounced. Then, when an online search revealed Batchelor's criminal past, he called police.
The swindler was released on bail but, weeks later, was arrested again following another complaint.
Bailed once more, he set about conning more victims.
It was only when the two investigations were ''amalgamated'' the extent of his crimes emerged.
He was arrested a third time in March this year and remanded in custody.
Property seized included a receipt book in the name ''Park Lane Jewellery and Watches'', suggesting he was already planning his next fraud.
The defendant, of Draycott Place, Chelsea, originally faced 45 charges, but eventually admitted 29 - six of deception and 22 of false representation involving property worth nearly £100,000, as well as one fraudulent trading offence.
All were committed between 2003 and 2008.
The remaining 16 charges - including one of money laundering - were either quashed or left on the file.
Mark Fenhalls, prosecuting, said Batchelor's guilty pleas adequately reflected his crimes and it would ''not be in the public interest'' to try him on the other matters.
But police, who accuse Batchelor of causing ''untold misery'', fear there could be ''hundreds'' of other victims who have not come forward, involving potential losses of ''hundreds of thousands''.
His confession - on the third day of his trial - - followed a so-called Goodyear Direction in which Judge Andrew McDowall said he would impose a maximum five-year jail sentence in the event of a guilty plea.
Remanding Batchelor in custody until October 16 for financial inquiries, the judge told him his help in reuniting losers with their property would be regarded ''favourably''.
Batchelor, who according to the Inland Revenue has never paid a penny in tax, has twice been declared bankrupt in Scotland.
Within months of arriving in London he was bankrupt again. One creditor was Classic FM, owed £23,000 for radio adverts used to snare his victims.
Bankruptcy number four followed. Among those pursuing him was Cadogan Estate, left £12,000 out of pocket over unpaid rent on a Chelsea apartment.
During legal argument, the court heard Batchelor posed as a ''reputable jeweller''.
Many customers found him through his website and later described him as initially ''sophisticated, charming and very persuasive''.
Batchelor launched his London crime spree from smart ''serviced offices'' in the West End, but he failed to pay bills and was kicked out. After that he met most victims in upmarket Mayfair hotels or wine bars.
Promises of a good deal, a company cheque and impressively headed receipts invariably ended with them handing over precious possessions. Some even popped them in the post. Hardly any saw their property again.
All faced months, sometimes years, of ''heartache'' as they tried to get their money. One victim told police her ordeal left her feeling ''violated''.
Others described how their repeated demands for Batchelor to pay up would trigger abusive tirades.
The court heard one handed over more than £6,000 worth of engagement and wedding rings from a previous relationship.
She hoped to use the money to fund a charity mission to Africa and buy schoolbooks and other educational equipment for deprived children there.
In her witness statement, she said when there was no sign of her money she ''began a very long and stressful series of attempts to contact him....but I just couldn't get a satisfactory response.
''He really couldn't care less. He constantly avoided me. I even pleaded with him to be compassionate because my mother was dying of cancer but it had no effect whatsoever.''
Despite the lack of records, police managed to trace a number of pawnbrokers and second-hand jewellers Batchelor had dealt with.
Between them they had paid the fraudster at least £230,000.
After today's hearing, Superintendent Matt Parkes, of the London Regional Asset Recovery Team, said: ''Andrew Batchelor has caused a great deal of anguish to his victims, depriving them of their valued possessions with no financial remuneration.
''This successful prosecution shows we will pursue persons who cause such harm to the public, prosecute them and take back all the proceeds of their crime.''