The 'millionaire shoplifter' who made £1,000 a day and stayed at Claridge's

He drove Jaguars and BMWs, stayed at Claridge's for weeks on end, and dined at celebrity haunts such as The Ivy.

Smartly dressed in Armani or Versace suits, Kevin Castle looked every inch the wealthy businessman.

But it was all a lie, right down to his height. The 43-year- old conman wore blocks in his shoes to make himself look taller than his 5ft 5ins.

He had obtained a small fortune by forging till receipts to obtain refunds from DIY stores across the country.

Yesterday, however, the man who earned the police nickname 'the millionaire shoplifter' began a jail sentence of two years and four months.

Using a variety of disguises, including stockbroker, electrical engineer, alarm fitter and property developer, Castle made as much as £1,000 a day through his scam.

He would steal goods from branches of Homebase and B&Q before fabricating receipts and returning the items to obtain a refund.

To add realism to his persona, Castle hired top-of-the-range cars and wore designer suits.

He booked a 28-night stay at Claridge's, dining at Gordon Ramsay's award winning  restaurant there, and splashed out on meals at other top restaurants.

Castle rented a £1,000-a-week flat in Knightsbridge and claimed to work for the Ministry of Defence. In reality he was a two-time bankrupt with no legitimate source of income.

Claridge's: Castle booked a 28-night stay at the hotel

His fraud first came to light in 2004 when he attempted to obtain a refund using a fraudulent receipt at a B&Q store in Bamber Bridge, Preston, but police did not realise it was part of a concerted scam.

Then, in 2006, staff at a store in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, became suspicious and began asking questions of Castle, who fled. Police found him hiding nearby.

A search of his Jaguar uncovered 28 packets of Homebase doorknobs and a map highlighting 300 locations in the North of England and the Midlands.

A complete till roll was found at his home in Nottingham.

Castle was arrested and bailed, but went on the run. After a nationwide appeal by Lancashire Police featured in the Daily Mail, he was recaptured in February this year climbing out of a hired BMW in a Nottinghamshire village.

Detectives believe his scam raked in at least £140,000.

Castle, who has 17 previous convictions for 60 offences, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to 11 counts of obtaining property by deception between April 2006 and July 2006.

He asked for 76 similar offences to be taken into consideration, he also admitted one count of converting criminal property obtained by deception between March 2003 and April 2007.

Earlier this year, Castle's partner of ten years, shop assistant Elaine Rogers, 47, received a suspended sentence after a court heard she had become unwittingly embroiled in his web of lies and deceit.

The hearing was told that Castle had a new partner with whom he planned to go straight on his release from prison.

Castle targeted stores including Homebase and B&Q