Ex-West Ham player Kevin Nolan inadvertent middle man in Christmas hamper scam



The ex-West Ham midfielder told Snaresbrook Crown Court he had been passed the details of a hamper salesman called "Mark Kingston" by a nightclub manager friend of his

The 34-year-old paid £920 for two Harrods hampers and 25 bottles of champagne which he never received

Stephen Ackerman, 48, is accused of defrauding potential new England manager Sam Allardyce and 12 other former and current West Ham players and staff, including England striker Andy Carroll, out of thousands of pounds by selling them hampers which were never delivered

Ackerman, of Loughton, Essex, denies 18 fraud charges, with the proceeds amounting to a total of around £61,560

It is alleged he appeared at the club's training ground on December 12 2014 using the alias Mark Kingston

Nolan, who was West Ham captain at the time, told the court he was given the details of Mr Kingston by Scott Cummings, who runs the Club 195 bar in Epping

He said: "He made me aware of him and I passed his details on to (player liaison officer) Tim De'Ath

It was a fella called Mark

"Basically, it was just that Mark sold luxury hampers and he would like to come into the training ground - that's something which is quite common in our place, round Christmas time we have a lot of people come in."

Asked by prosecutor Richard Milne if he was a "sort of a middle man", Nolan replied: "Yes"

Nolan added that Mr De'Ath was responsible for handling the arrangements

"Normally he'd do a vetting process and make sure everything was fine," he said

The player described the salesman as being in his mid-40s, having dark hair, and wearing a grey flat cap

He said he spoke with him only briefly as he ordered the hampers before setting off for the airport en route to the club's Premier League match with Sunderland the following day

The court also heard that former West Ham defender Joey O'Brien paid £1,200 on a credit card for two hampers and 20 bottles of Laurent Perrier rose champagne on December 12

He said he noticed that two additional payments totalling £780 had left his account when he checked his statement several days later

O'Brien said: "I did not know anything about those on my bank statement until I checked

"I knew they were not made by me so I contacted the bank to cancel the card."

He described the salesman as "smartly dressed" and wearing a "smart watch"

The player said he spoke to him for only a few minutes and could not remember if he had been asked to attend an identity parade

Allardyce, who is in talks with the Football Association about becoming England's next manager, previously told jurors he had lost £13,270 in the alleged scam

He described the man who conned him as "extremely smart" and a "good salesman"

The defence argue that Ackerman, who was picked out by Mr De'Ath in an identity parade, was not the man who purported to be Mark Kingston

Source : PA

Source: PA