A QUICK-TALKING conman who intimidated and confused betting shop cashiers into believing he had won bets, losing the bookmakers around £10,000, was sentenced today (Monday).

Snaresbrook Crown Court heard how John O'Connor, 33, of St Mary's Road, Ealing, conned staff at 14 branches of Ladbrokes over 18 months from July 2012.

He used a number of what the betting industry refers to as "slow count fraud" tactics, to fool them into believing he had won bets when, in some cases, he had not even paid his stake.

Tactics included placing a bet but then distracting the cashier - sometimes with the help of friends - by asking questions, becoming rowdy or placing a series of small, obscure bets at the same time. This would allow him time to see if his runner was likely to win.

If it won, he would hand over his stake and claim the profit, or else pretend he had already paid and ask only for his winnings. He would then place the non-existent stake on another bet.

If he lost, he would leave without paying the stake.

O'Connor carried out his crimes at branches in Hillingdon, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth and Westminster, plus other locations around the country.

Ladbrokes reported the offences to police in April 2013 after he carried out the con at a branch in Oxford Street.

Detectives circulated CCTV images of him to forces around the country, and Hertfordshire police arrested him last July.

O'Connor was charged with 15 counts of a fraud by misrepresentation, to which he pleaded guilty in November.

While on bail, awaiting sentence, he carried out the same offence in Birmingham.

It is believed he may have carried out the scam on many more occasions.

He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, for 16 counts of fraud. He was also given a 12-month supervision order and a four-month alcohol treatment order.