Conman jailed after racking up £124,000 at luxury hotels using a cancelled credit card

A conman has swapped VIP hotel rooms for a prison cell after being jailed for running up more than £100,000 in bills using a cancelled credit card.

David Johnstone posed as a wealthy businesses and lived in luxury in two high end hotels for six months, running up £124,000 in bills.

The 47-year-old used a cancelled credit card to book himself into a presidential suite where Hollywood director Stephen Spielberg once stayed.

He racked up bills of up to £700 a day, enjoying free food, drink and hotel facilities including gym, business centre and spa, between June and December last year.

The conman was even known as a generous tipper to staff at the Park Regis Hotel and the AC Hotel in Birmingham.

But Johnstone has now swapped luxury for prison after being jailed for three years and nine months after admitting two charges of fraud at Birmingham Crown Court.

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The judge in his case, Mr Recorder Nicholas Syfret, told him: “You were utterly manipulative and knew completely what you were doing.

“You enjoyed what you did but the time has now come when you must pay.”

Prosecutor Patrick Sullivan said Johnstone posed as a businessman and hedge fund manager who worked for a Swiss bank.

He used a cancelled HSBC credit card but “persuaded” both hotels to use a rarely used override facility to book in advance on credit.

Mr Sullivan said: “He had built up the trust of the people at both hotels. He was very plausible, looked the part, he was a model guest.

“He tipped the staff well, electronically. He was a Platinum card hotel guest and staff had no idea that he was a fraud.”

The hotels only found out when Barclaycard alerted them to the fraud on December 15 last year.

When Johnstone’s room was searched, police recovered the card which had been cancelled in July after the defendant had run up £90,000 in debt.

The court heard Johnstone had a previous conviction for a $176,000 fraud relating to a hedge fund in the United States.

Joseph Keating, defending, said he had come to Birmingham because his father, who was unwell, lived in the city but found himself without an address.

He said: “His intention was always that the money would be repaid. He was tipping very generously and it was a lavish lifestyle.”