Serial swindler David Carroll rips off more victims, this time selling the car of a woman who befriended him

David Nepia Carroll has been sentenced to six months of home detention. Photo / Supplied

A swindler with a 30-year history of dishonesty has been at it again, conning and stealing from people who trusted him.

One of David Nepia Carroll’s four latest victims was a woman who befriended him when she was a volunteer at a drop-in centre in Clive, Hawke’s Bay.

She let Carroll house-sit while she went away for 10 days in May last year, during which time he sold her car on Facebook Marketplace.

The 2009 Nissan Tilda worth $4000 was bought for $2200 by a man who found out later it was stolen.

After she returned, the woman found $400 worth of her clothing was also missing. It has not been recovered.

Carroll, 51, appeared for sentence in the Hastings District Court this week, charged with theft and theft by a person in a special relationship, two counts of using a document for pecuniary advantage, and one of unlawfully taking a vehicle.

Judge Jan Kelly sentenced him to six months of home detention.

“You have a long history of dishonesty offending,” the judge told Carroll.

She said Carroll’s stealing and dishonesty had been going on for 30 years, and he had drug addiction issues that spanned the same period.

Carroll – who has also been known as David Palmer and Sam Palmer – made headlines 10 years ago when he admitted defrauding “masses of people” in Northland and Auckland.

In 2013, he pleaded guilty to 76 charges of theft and fraud, including dishonestly taking a $90,000 Audi Q5, failing to pay for accommodation and using other people’s credit cards.

At that time, he was described as a likeable, smooth-talking man who claimed to have been a chef for the band Coldplay.

Credit cards have featured again in his latest offending.

In October 2021, Carroll went shopping with a woman who had befriended him when she was living out of her van. He saw her type her bank card Pin code into an Eftpos machine.

Later that day, he took her card and racked up $963 in 11 purchases from various stores.

The woman learned about it when her bank contacted her.

Carroll took another friend’s credit card from her house and used it to draw $900 from her bank account at an ATM.

Also in October 2021, Carroll was working at an accommodation provider between Clive and Havelock North. When a customer paid a $371 bill in cash, Carroll put it through on the system as a bank transfer and pocketed the money.

The proprietor of the accommodation place declined to comment when contacted.

“We did our bit by making the complaint,” he said.

Judge Kelly said Carroll’s offending was aggravated by breaches of trust involving friends and an employer. However, it appeared opportunistic rather than planned.

She ordered that Carroll repay his four victims a total of more than $4200 at a rate of $100 a week.

A probation officer’s pre-sentence report said Carroll had a complex history of trauma and addiction, the judge said.

She imposed home detention and six months of post-detention conditions that he not consume alcohol or non-prescribed drugs, and attend an assessment for an alcohol and drugs programme.