A serial fraudster who once posed as a doctor to run up a huge unpaid bill at a luxury hotel has been caught stealing in York yet again – but was spared prison.
Mark Anthony Chapman, 45, hit national headlines in recent years after racking up huge hotel and restaurant bills which he never paid.
Today the brazen conman was back in the dock at York Crown Court after he was caught shoplifting at Marks & Spencer while on a suspended prison sentence for a series of frauds.
Prosecutor Michael Cahill said Chapman was first spotted acting shiftily and in a state of intoxication at the Fenwick department store in the Coppergate Centre.
The same store detective later spotted Chapman in Marks & Spencer on Pavement where he stole several beauty products and stuffed them inside a duffle bag, before leaving the store without paying.
The security officer detained him and called police. Chapman told him: “I haven’t done owt”.
The stolen items, worth £181, were seized from him and Chapman was arrested. He was charged with shoplifting and breaching a suspended sentence.
Chapman, of Fishergate, York, ultimately admitted the offences, which occurred in October last year, and appeared for sentence today.
76 previous offences
The court heard he had 27 previous convictions for 76 offences, the majority for theft and numerous fraud offences including staying in hotels and guest houses without paying.
- In 2005, he was jailed for two years for stealing from a local pub where he worked and defrauding hotels, restaurants and pubs in York and Blackpool.
- In 2008, he was jailed for nine months for eight counts of deception and four of fraud by false representation committed against a York hotel and upmarket pubs and restaurants.
- In January 2016, he was jailed for two years for six counts of fraud after stealing thousands of pounds of food and drink from hotels and restaurants. In one eight-hour session at Frankie and Benny’s restaurant in Selby, he ran up a bill for £120 which he didn’t pay.
He also racked up a bill for more than £360 at the White Hart Hotel in Harrogate after posing as a doctor. The fee, which again went unpaid, included accommodation, a gift voucher and a £72 drinks bill at the hotel’s Fat Badger grill.
Chapman also defrauded licensed premises in Malton, Settle, Pateley Bridge and Goole. The total value of those frauds, including hotel accommodation, came to £3,352.
The court heard he had used lies, false credit-card details or simply walked out of some establishments claiming he would come back, but never did.
In 2018, he was jailed for 30 months for defrauding hospitality businesses in York and elsewhere. In March 2021, he received an eight-month suspended jail sentence imposed for a series of frauds, several counts of making off without payment, theft and criminal damage. His latest offences were in breach of that order.
Set up bar tabs
Chapman, described as a “confidence trickster with a liking for high living”, had been the bane of hoteliers, shopkeepers and restaurateurs across North Yorkshire for years. He often set up bar tabs before offering a bank card that didn’t work or simply leaving without paying.
Defence barrister Nathan Davis that before his last conviction in 2021, Chapman had been appearing in the courts on a “monthly basis”.
Chapman, who had a drink problem, had committed his latest offences after relapsing due to a relationship breakdown.
But apart from his initial non-compliance with the Probation Service, he was otherwise making “good progress” on his suspended sentence, added Mr Davis.
Chapman, who was on benefits, now lived in a hostel in York city centre after moving from Scarborough in February 2020.
Judge Deborah Sherwin said Chapman had an “atrocious” record but had recently been showing signs of “getting his life sorted out”.
She told Chapman he would not be going to jail because “you have shown you can keep out of trouble for a period of time”.
Chapman was given a six-month suspended prison sentence for the shop thefts and ordered to complete a six-month alcohol-treatment programme and 15-day rehabilitation course. He was fined £10 for breaching the previous suspended sentence.