Fraudster jailed for posing as pilot and lawyer in £1.4m scam

A man who posed as a pilot and a retired solicitor in a £1.4 million fraud has been jailed for three and a half years.

William Campbell, 41, created fake businesses using stolen details of real people to hire sports cars and buy goods from November 2015 to April 2017.

Campbell, from Knightswood in Glasgow, insisted he was innocent of the scam, but was found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

His behaviour was described by Sheriff Owen Mullan as "premeditated, calculated and on occasion, brazen".

The court heard that Campbell used stolen details of four people to start up several firms and made arrangements for credit facilities and or hire of materials and vehicles.

False documents would be created in their names.

Campbell was able to secure £100,000 of Audi cars from a fleet management company, £175,000 of vehicles from another business and then another 12 cars to the value of £360,000.

Campbell further stole £504,000 of tools and plant equipment, while £165,000 of fuel was not paid for.

The crimes were uncovered when one of the victims was contacted about being the director of a cleaning company that he had no involvement with.

Another victim became aware his name was being used when Mercedes sent him a letter in 2016 saying he had missed payments for a vehicle.

Campbell was caught after police traced him to a garage where seven fuel cards used in the fraud were found in the vehicle.

Campbell had initially lodged a special defence of incrimination against Brian Docherty and Declan Kearney.

Those men were jailed in 2025 for a total of four years for their part in the same fraud.

Docherty, of Cumbernauld pleaded guilty to a string of fraud charges amounting to £303,500 and Kearney, of Coatbridge, admitted frauds totalling £247,500.

Their charges spanned between August 2015 and January 2018.

Sheriff Mullan said there had been numerous victims of the crimes.

He added: "You continue to deny your guilt, however, you will understand I have to sentence on the basis of the jury's verdict.

"The fraud you undertook was premeditated, calculated and on occasion, brazen.

"You have previous convictions for dishonesty and violence and have been in custody before. Given the seriousness of the offences, I do not consider there is an alternative to custody."