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| 'Fake duke' Alex Wood jailed for London hotels fraud | 'Fake duke' Alex Wood jailed for London hotels fraud |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A fraudster who posed as the 12th Duke of Marlborough, racking up hotel bills of almost £12,000, has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. | A fraudster who posed as the 12th Duke of Marlborough, racking up hotel bills of almost £12,000, has been sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. |
| Alexander Wood defrauded six top London hotels including Claridges in Mayfair - where he spent £1,788 over three days - between February and July this year. | Alexander Wood defrauded six top London hotels including Claridges in Mayfair - where he spent £1,788 over three days - between February and July this year. |
| Wood, 34, from Southend in Essex, admitted fraud by false representation. | Wood, 34, from Southend in Essex, admitted fraud by false representation. |
| The judge at Southwark Crown Court said his behaviour was down to "simple greed". | The judge at Southwark Crown Court said his behaviour was down to "simple greed". |
| The fraudster was first arrested on 28 May after booking into the Great Northern Hotel in King's Cross under the name Lord Jamie Spencer - the 12th Duke of Marlborough is called Jamie Spencer-Churchill. | |
| 'Death threats' | |
| Staff became suspicious after he exceeded his daily tab of £100 on the first night, buying expensive drinks for other guests. His bill totalled £1,738. | |
| Wood walked out of the hotel after being asked for ID by staff and tried to bribe a security guard who stopped him, the court heard. | |
| But after being bailed his crime spree continued, with Wood racking up bills of nearly £8,000 at hotels in Mayfair, Canary Wharf and South Kensington. He was arrested again on 11 July. | |
| Wood told the court he was hiding from a former employee - an escaped convict - who was making death threats against him and his family and claimed that five-star hotels could afford to be swindled. | |
| But passing sentence, Judge Alistair McCreath said: "I do not accept his decision to stay in hotels had anything to do with being under threat from anybody. | |
| "The explanation is one of simple greed. ' |