After a week without further payment for his accommodation, La Trelade questioned the defendant who said he had millions of pounds being held by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs and was interested in purchasing the business.
A number of follow-up meetings were held with the hotel’s senior staff where Tomlin repeatedly claimed his intention was to buy the hotel. He even instructed an Advocate to go along to one of the meetings.
Pictured: The defendant was sentenced in the island’s Magistrate’s Court.
As a result, Tomlin was allowed to stay in the hotel for what is thought to be about four months, free of charge.
On numerous occasions, when staff were getting suspicious, he contacted the hotel via phone and email pretending to be his son in order to reinforce the lie.
When he was eventually confronted by La Trelade, the defendant admitted he did not have sufficient funds to buy the hotel and couldn’t even afford to pay off the debt he had racked up for his stay.
By this point, in mid-October, Tomlin owed the hotel £12,807.
The defendant handed himself in to Guernsey Police on 18 October and has been remanded in custody ever since.
He has no current ties to the island, with no form of income or fixed address.
Pictured: The defendant has been sentenced to six months in prison.
In his mitigation, Defence Advocate Domaille said Tomlin had not come to Guernsey intending to defraud the hotel, but had found himself in a difficult financial situation with nowhere to stay and no money.
“This crime was committed at a time when many hotels in the island are struggling to make ends meet,” said Judge Gary Perry. “And there is no prospect of you repaying the £12,000 that’s outstanding.”
Tomlin’s six month prison sentence has been backdated to last month, when he was remanded in custody.
Pictured top: Image of La Trelade courtesy of VisitGuernsey.