Third man jailed over counterfeit banknotes

A man has been jailed for four years for his role in a counterfeit currency production line producing fake Scottish bank notes.

Stanley Carnall, 74, helped set up a factory to produce the notes and was to play a key role in their distribution, Leeds Crown Court heard earlier.

Carnall, of Vale Road in Woolton, Liverpool, was found guilty of conspiracy to make counterfeit currency, alongside Lee Mitchell, 54, of Morley, Leeds, and John Sutcliffe, 42, of Gale Street, Rochdale, in October.

The operation was discovered when police forced entry to the warehouse in Rochdale on 7 February 2024, where they found £380,000 worth of £20 Royal Bank of Scotland notes were being made.

During the sentencing, Judge Kate Rayfield said Carnall had been brought "into the conspiracy" by Mitchell but she could not "accept the idea (of Carnall) as being Mitchell's lacky".

"You had a vested interest and would have some financial or other benefit once production got going," she told Carnall.

"Your connections in Scotland were intended to open up a customer base."

In his defence, his barrister told the court Carnall was "not a well man," who had struggled since his release from prison in 2017.

The court heard that Carnall had spent long periods of his life in prison and suffered from loneliness.

Rayfield did recognise the plea that Carnall's children had made for a non-custodial sentence but said the offence was "so serious that there has to be a significant deterrent sentence for anyone who becomes involved in counterfeit currency production".

Carnall would serve half of his sentence before being released on licence, she said.

At a previous hearing, Mitchell was jailed for seven years, as well as given a five-year serious crime prevention order. Sutcliffe was given 20 months in prison and was released due to time already served on remand.

A proceeds of crime hearing is expected to be heard at the same court on 12 May.

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