A man has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for producing counterfeit money after he was identified following a visit to a high street sandwich shop in Westminster .
David Shepherd, 30, of Great Warley, Brentwood in Essex was convicted at Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday (September 27) of two counts of counterfeiting and sentenced at the same court on Friday (September 29).
An investigation began in October 2015 after a fake £20 note was used to pay for goods at a Pret-a-Manger in Westminster.
Latest crime headlines
Police identified Shepherd's fingerprints on the notes and following a search of his house in May 2016, officers found evidence of counterfeiting equipment on an "industrial scale".
Printers were found alongside UK inks, silver foils, laminators, hard drives and a considerable number of £20 notes in production.
A search of eBay and PayPal internet history also linked the 30-year-old to the purchase of some of the equipment and CCTV footage confirmed his role in the passing of counterfeit currency.
"Shepherd was responsible for producing thousands of counterfeit bank notes from a forgery factory in his home address," said detective constable Jonathan Roberts, of the Met's Serious Crime Unit.
"He was caught as the result of an investigation, carried out in partnership with the National Crime Agency's National Counterfeit Unit, the Bank Of England and Norfolk Constabulary.
"The lengthy custodial sentence reflects the serious nature of this crime and should act as a warning to others engaged in this type of criminality."
Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.
You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.
Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!
