“What I’ve done is horrendous”

“What I’ve done is horrendous”

2 October 2013

A MAN was forced to beg and steal for food on the streets of Cambodia after being abandoned by fraudulent Downpatrick travel agent Kathy Ward.

The shocking details emerged as a prosecuting lawyer summed up the devastating impact of Ward’s crimes ahead of her sentencing on 80 fraud related charges later this month.

While many of her victims have come forward recently to detail ruined dream holidays and financial losses, this is the first time it has emerged a life was put at risk.

James Lappin had spent his holiday in Cambodia in March 2010 and when his money ran out he went to the airport to catch his return flight home. It was only then he discovered the flight had never been booked.

Mr. Lappin was forced to lie rough until his family could send out the money for his return flight.

Ward (40) and co-accused William McConkey (47) were due to be sentenced at Downpatrick Crown Court on Friday in front of a packed public gallery containing around 25 of their victims. But Judge Stephen Fowler QC deferred sentencing to read a number of medical and pre-sentence reports.

Back in April, after denying the charges for two years, Ward, who ran La Mon Travel in Downpatrick, pleaded guilty to 80 fraud related charges involving over 60 customers, several airlines and tour operators. All in all, £110,000 was obtained fraudulently. McConkey, who lives at Tollymore Brae in Newcastle with Ward, admitted seven charges.

At Friday’s hearing, prosecuting lawyer Sam Magee said a pattern of criminal behaviour emerged which involved customer credit card numbers being used to pay for other customers’ holidays, cash deposits being stolen, and cheques being altered. Many families were left stranded abroad or never made it away on holiday at all.

Giving just some examples, Mr. Magee said that in the case of Mr. Lappin, £1,395 had been paid for a return flight from Cambodia.

“Early in March 2010 he decided to return home,” said Mr. Magee.

“He was informed he only had a single ticket from La Mon. Mr. Lappin had expended his finances and did not have the money to obtain a further ticket. He had to live on the streets of Cambodia begging.”

The lawyer said a relative at home had to raise the money for a return ticket to bring Mr. Lappin’s nightmare to an end.

Other examples included one woman paying for a dream honeymoon to the Dominican Republic but seeing “not a penny”; a traveller who had his trip to New Zealand ruined after discovering Ward had used his credit card number to rack up her own bill of over £9,000, and one man who discovered a cheque he wrote to La Mon Travel for £430 had a ‘1’ fraudulently written in front of it.

Aer Lingus was also left £15,000 out of pocket.

Mr. Magee said Ward’s family was similarly affected. He said her brother had lent her his credit card as a favour, but that when unauthorised payments came through she blamed staff. Ward also involved her mother by taking out a Tesco loan for £25,000 in her name.

Mr. Magee said the problems at La Mon Travel emerged after the ABTA licence which covered the business she had taken over was withdrawn. The withdrawal followed Ward’s conviction on several theft related convictions in 2007 from her time as an employee of Downe Travel, for which she received conditional discharges at Downpatrick court.

Mr. Magee said the withdrawal of the ABTA licence affected the credit available to her for bookings and subsequently led to a cash flow problem.

“More money had to be paid up front and for a while it seemed the defendant was able to keep things going,” he said.

As Ward’s financial dealings began to unravel, however, he said staff reported feeling the pressure with an increasing number of customer complaints, and one staff member feeling she had no choice but to leave.

Painting a picture of growing disorder, he said Royal Caribbean Cruises began to refuse to deal with Ward and she began not letting staff deal with certain transactions. He also said Ward claimed it was “another travel agency in the town that was struggling” when concerns were raised.

“Kathy Ward would time and time again misuse credit cards used by other customers,” said Mr. Magee.

“She time and time again lied to customers.”

Referring to Ward as the “prime mover”, he said co-accused William McConkey helped with a “wealth of excuses” and would “invent lies to tell customers”.

“He assisted her from time to time in the day to day running of the business and involved himself in fraudulent activities,” said the lawyer.

Mr. Magee said the prosecution accepted Ward would receive “substantial credit” for pleading guilty and not taking the case to trial. However, he questioned the cost to the public purse of a three day preliminary investigation held earlier this year to determine if there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial. Involving around 30 witnesses, Mr. Magee said the crown was concerned at the time and money spent.

“This led to significant delays,” he said.

Concluding his remarks, Mr. Magee said “many people suffered” as a result of Ward and McConkey’s actions.

“Kathy Ward perpetrated and sustained a high degree of fraud against the people of Downpatrick who put their trust in her,” he said.

Shortly afterwards outside Downpatrick courthouse a scuffle broke out after supporters of McConkey tried to obstruct the waiting cameramen.

Ward was first charged in December 2010 after police carried out a major fraud investigation spanning a six month period from September 2009. Friday’s deferral of sentencing was another disappointment for Kathy Ward’s victims, who attended court in June for her expected sentencing, and were also scheduled to attend earlier in September.