A fraudster who tried to promote a strolling stick for tons of of kilos by claiming it belonged to the late Queen has been fined.
Dru Marshall, 26, from Romsey, Hampshire, listed the merchandise on eBay eight days after Elizabeth II died in September 2022.
Falsely himself as a senior footman at Windsor Citadel, he insisted proceeds from the sale would go to the Most cancers Analysis UK charity.
The eBay itemizing claimed the ‘antler strolling stick’ was utilized by the Queen in her remaining years ‘as she struggled with mobility’.
Prosecutors say Marshall ‘swiftly closed the itemizing’ after discovering police had been investigating it.
By that time, its public sale value had reached £540. On Tuesday he was fined £614 and sentenced to a 12-month group order with 40 hours’ unpaid work.
Marshall was arrested and his dwelling was raided after he failed to reply to a requirement for proof of authenticity from one of many bidders.
The 26-year-old advised detectives his eBay account had been hacked by an anti-royal buddy in Spain.
However forensic examination of his laptop discovered he had Googled ‘ delete an Ebay itemizing’ and phrases associated to the Queen.
As soon as the case was dropped at court docket, he started claiming he had no intention to rip-off anybody and was simply making an attempt to hold out a ‘social experiment’.
Marshall advised the court docket at a earlier listening to: ‘I take into account myself to be a royalist and simply wished to see what would occur.
‘It was not about cash or funds. It was curiosity. Unhealthy curiosity however curiosity nonetheless.
‘I wished to see how critically it might be taken by folks viewing the put up.’
A hoard of royal memorabilia together with a big framed portrait of the Queen and a duplicate of Vogue journal with Princess Diana on the quilt had been discovered at his dwelling.
He went on to say his actions had been ‘stupidity at its best’, including: ‘It appears like a monstrous betrayal of the home of Windsor. It’s one thing I deeply remorse.’
The presiding Justice of the Peace advised him: ‘We didn’t discover something you stated in court docket at the moment credible.’
After Marshall’s sentencing, Julie Macey, senior crown prosecutor for CPS Wessex, stated: ‘Dru Marshall used the demise of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to try to hoodwink the general public with a pretend charity public sale – fuelled by greed and a want for consideration.
‘Marshall’s scheme was in the end foiled earlier than he might efficiently con any unsuspecting victims.’
Get in contact with our information crew by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For extra tales like this, verify our information web page.
MORE : Is a monkey on the unfastened in Stroud?
MORE : Two folks stabbed to demise individually in night time of bloodshed throughout London
MORE : 4 critically injured after cable automobile is introduced down by fallen tree at ski resort
Get your need-to-know
newest information, feel-good tales, evaluation and extra
This web site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privateness Coverage and Phrases of Service apply.