One half of 'Costa Del Crime' couple jailed

A FRAUDSTER who appeared on Britain's most wanted list with his girlfriend after they fled to Spain was jailed today.

Anthony Kearney, 45, and Donna McCafferty, 43, were tracked down to the Costa Blanca in November 2008 within 24 hours of a Crimestoppers appeal.

The couple, who illegally claimed thousands of pounds in housing benefit, admitted a string of charges at Glasgow Sheriff Court last month.

Kearney was sentenced to a total of four years and four months after pleading guilty to three fraud charges and one under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The former antiques dealer conned the Department of Work and Pensions out of more than 42,000 between December 1997 and March 2004.

He defrauded two banks of 10,350 by using a false identity to take out credit cards between February 2002 and March 2004.

And he used a fake name to transfer 126,400 worth of cheques into an account in Douglas on the Isle of Man in October 2003.

Sheriff Sean Murphy told Kearney, whose address was given as Barlinnie Prison: "You have pled guilty to a significant fraud on the public purse."

McCafferty, from Airdrie, defrauded the DWP of more than 13,000 in housing benefit between November 1999 and March 2004 as joint account holder with Kearney.

She received 250 hours' community service after admitting the charge.

Kearney and McCafferty were arrested by police in Alicante, Spain, on November 7, 2008.

The couple were caught just a day after Crimestoppers launched Operation Captura 2 to track down Britain's "most wanted" criminals on the run.

Kearney is already serving a five-year jail term for another offence.

He will serve two years and three months of today's sentences after the sheriff ordered two of the terms to run concurrently.