Lancashire horse dealer handed suspended jail sentence for fraud offences

Emma Bamber, 42, of Bridge Street, Garstang in Preston, pleaded guilty to seven charges of fraud by false representation and another count of engaging in misleading commercial practice.

The trader, operating out of County Londonderry, was given a suspended 18-month prison sentence.

At Antrim Crown Court, Judge Fiona Bagnall said Bamber played a key role in a series of frauds and said her actions amounted to ‘’deviant and manipulative of behaviours".

The court heard that police in Limavady received complaints in June 2018 that a woman known as Emma Bamber, from Glendra Sports Horses in nearby Feeny, had committed numerous alleged fraud offences.

The offending involved eight victims across the UK, with offences committed between January and December 2018.

The court heard that in one case, Bamber told a victim a horse was "suitable for her grandchildren" when, in fact, it was an ex-racehorse.

She also claimed an animal called Bridie had a full set of x-rays and five stage vetting when it did not, and said the horse was a talented show jumping horse when it was not.

Other victims paid deposits for horses Bamber did not even have.

Although the court was told the financial impact of the offences was not considerable, the case did impact victims in another way, as some of the horses was sold for the wrong purpose and someone could have been seriously injured,

Judge Bagnall said Bamber knew she was misleading clients in order to persuade them to buy horses which were not as she described.