$65,000 serial swindler appeals sentence

Blair Beaumont is due to see the Parole Board in August but that may change if his appeal is successful. Photo / Rob Kidd

A serial swindler who ripped off dozens of people over more than two years has claimed he deserves a lighter sentence.

Blair David Beaumont, 37, was jailed for three years and 10 months for $65,000 of fraud when he was sentenced at the Dunedin District Court in September last year.

However, the case came before the High Court at Dunedin yesterday where counsel Sarah Saunderson-Warner argued Judge Michael Turner had made three errors which had resulted in an excessive prison term.

Crown prosecutor Craig Power accepted the sentence was stern but stressed there was "real persistence" in Beaumont's offending which involved relatively substantial sums.

During 2018 and 2019, Beaumont used a pseudonym on Facebook to advertise electronics for sale.

Victims would contact him to negotiate a fee then would deposit their cash into the bank account as the defendant directed.

Beaumont made repeated excuses but never sent the goods.

In August 2019, he began a new scam.

Blair Beaumont is due to see the Parole Board in August but that may change if his appeal is successful. Photo / Rob Kidd

Beaumont organised a stay in a Lower Hutt motel and told the owners to bill "Canterbury Handyman Services".

The $1158 debt was never settled and the defendant continually used the technique until February last year, scamming seven Dunedin accommodation providers and one in Queenstown.

Between March and May 2021, his modus operandi changed again.

Beaumont advertised 40ft and 20ft shipping containers for sale on social media.

In a matter of weeks, Beaumont's bank account had swelled by nearly $30,000 and he had provided nothing in return.

Yesterday, Saunderson-Warner compared her client's case to those of a similar ilk, calling it "an outlier sentence".

The judge's starting point, in calculating the outcome, was too high, she said.

Beaumont's crimes, Saunderson-Warner argued, were "unsophisticated" and he was too harshly punished for his background.

The fraudster had a relatively lengthy criminal history and committed some of his recent offences while on bail or subject to conditions following an earlier jail term, the court heard.

Saunderson-Warner also took aim at Judge Turner's decision not to decrease Beaumont's sentence for attending a restorative justice conference with one of the victims.

"Effectively what he's done is said 'that process is worthless'.

"The victims didn't think it was worthless," she said.

In contrast, Power said the sentencing judge was entitled to be sceptical about the genuineness of Beaumont's remorse.

Stepping back and considering the sentence, it was "within range", he said.

Justice Robert Osborne reserved his decision and indicated it would be released next week at the earliest.

Blair Beaumont is due to see the Parole Board in August but that may change if his appeal is successful. Photo / Rob Kidd