Big Spender With No Job, Jailed.

Published 2nd Sep 2015

A man who enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle and accumulated thousands of pounds worth of jewellery - despite having no job or income - has been jailed.

Sheldon Campbell had no job, assets, cash, savings or investment yet paid thousands of pounds in cash for lavish holidays abroad.

And when police raided his home back in July, they found thousands of pounds worth of expensive jewellery and watches and swathes of cash.

26 year old Campbell of Westleigh Street in Moston, pleaded guilty to possession of criminal property at an earlier hearing.

Yesterday, he was sentenced to one year in prison at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square.

Officers acting on intelligence, found in Campbell's home:

A Rolex watch worth £8,400 - later established to have been stolen from a burglary in the Humberside area in 2010 - a diamond ring worth £11,150, a Cartier watch worth £4,700 and a Jacob and Co watch worth £30,000.

Nearly £15,000 in cash was found in a black holdall, and receipts showed more than £6,000 had been spent in Manchester stores such as Selfridges and Harvey Nichols.

Officers also established that he paid for holidays to Norway, Croatia and Egypt despite having no income at the time, and had paid nearly £3,000 in cash for an upcoming holiday to Ibiza.

It was also revealed that he had not paid a penny in tax during the past six years.

Detective Inspector Tony Norman, from Challenger Manchester, said:

"Despite having no job, and no means of income, Sheldon was living it up wearing expensive watches and jetting off around the world on holidays paid for in cash.

"Without any legitimate means of income, the only way he could have paid for this sort of lifestyle was from the proceeds of criminality.

"We know how galling it is for members of our community to see people enjoying the trappings of wealth from criminality when they go to work every day, work hard and pay their taxes. So I hope people look at this case and see that Greater Manchester Police will target these sorts of criminals and not only take away their liberty, but also take away their wealth.

"Through Proceeds of Crime Act legislation we will now be working with the Crown Prosecution Service to see what assets we can now recover.

"Challenger Manchester is absolutely committed to dismantling organised criminality in all its forms and we, and our partners, will use a range of different powers to target organised criminals and strip them of their assets and their freedom."