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West Lothian man admits possessing text fraud devices

22-year-old from Scotland committed to General Gaol

A court's heard a man from Scotland was carrying devices for text message fraud as he got off the ferry in Douglas with a teenage boy.

Twenty-two-year-old Connor Robert McClung, of Avendale Crescent in Armadale in West Lothian, appeared at Douglas Courthouse.

He admitted five charges of possessing articles for use in frauds as well as two of producing cannabis to the Island.

Also in the dock was a 16-year-old schoolboy, from Glasgow, who denied four counts of possessing articles for use in fraud.

The court heard the pair were questioned by police as they got off the boat, on 27 January, after officers thought they were acting suspiciously.

McClung was carrying three mobile phones, a laptop and an SMS device - when these were examined police found plans to travel to the Island to bulk-buy SIM cards to carry out scams.

Magistrates bailed McClung to Tromode House, in Braddan, and committed him for sentencing in the Court of General Gaol Delivery on 8 April.

The boy was also bailed but the bench excused him from attending his next court appearance on 13 April.

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