Fosse Park armed conman used fake Scottish £20 notes at Asda

A teenager left home alone became involved with a criminal gang who made him use fake £20 notes at Asda in Fosse Park to make money for them. Adnan Abdi was arrested at the supermarket on Wednesday, March 20, about a month after his 18th birthday.

But before that, Asda staff were already on the lookout for Abdi as he had made numerous small purchases at the store’s self-service checkouts. When he was arrested by Leicestershire police in March after buying numerous packs of chewing gum, he was found with 14 fake Scottish £20 notes and an illegal cane.

At Leicester Magistrates’ Court last week, he pleaded guilty to fraud and possessing an offensive weapon in public. Prosecutor Sally Bedford told the court: “There was suspicion about the defendant going to the shop as he had made very small purchases and was paying in £20 notes.

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“On March 20, he selected some individual packs of chewing gum and went to the self-service kiosks to pay with fake Scottish £20 notes and the change he was given was genuine. He made six separate transactions.

“When the police arrived he still had £280 worth of counterfeit currency on him. An aggravating feature is that there was quite a significant amount of banknotes. He also had an extendable cane.”

Abrar Sayed, representing Abdi, told the court: “Adnan had just turned 18 at the time and was in dire financial straits. He was at home with his two sisters and the rest of his family was abroad at the time.

“He got involved with others he shouldn’t have and carried out actions for small amounts of money. He shows complete remorse for what he has done. His young age and lack of maturity are factors to consider. The weapon was not used or used to cause any fear.”

He said Abdi was unemployed and supported by his family while he looked for work. He said Abdi, of Baseball Walk, Belgrave, Leicester, hoped to go on to a college course after completing his GCSEs.

Magistrates adjourned the case for a probation report and told Abdi that all sentencing options, including custody, would be open when they came to sentence him.