POLICE IN LONDON managed to catch an “industrial-scale” forger after one of his fake £20 notes was used in a sandwich shop.

David Shepherd, 30 of Great Warley, Brentwood, Essex, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at Southwark Crown Court today, after he was convicted of two counts of counterfeiting.

Shepherd was prosecuted as the result of a long-running investigation by the Met’s Serious Crime Unit that began in 2015 after a counterfeit £20 note was used to purchase goods at a Pret-a-Manger outlet in Westminster.

Shepherd’s fingerprints were identified on the counterfeit notes and a search warrant was executed at his home address in May.

Officers found evidence of counterfeiting equipment on what they called “an industrial scale”. This included printers, silver foils, UV inks, laminators, hard drives, templates and a large number of £20 notes in varying stages of production.

PayPal and eBay internet history also linked Shepherd to the purchase of silver foils and UV inks, whilst CCTV evidence confirmed his role in the passing of counterfeit currency.

Investigations with the Bank of England showed that the £20 notes all had a unique serial number, believed to have been used across the UK.

Detective Constable Jonathan Roberts, of the Met’s Serious Crime Unit, said: “Shepherd was responsible for producing thousands of counterfeit bank notes from a forgery factory in his home address.

“The lengthy custodial sentence reflects the serious nature of this crime and should act as a warning to others engaged in this type of criminality.”

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