London hotels swindler jailed

A FAILED businessman was jailed for three months and ordered to pay a total of £2,500 in compensation after being found guilty of swindling thousands of pounds out of four London hotels.

David Endbinder, of Northwich Avenue, Kenton, London, ran up unpaid bills at the Cumberland, the Inter-Continental, the Lanesborough and Le Méridien (Caterer, 26 May).

The court heard that Endbinder had voluntarily handed himself in to the police and had committed the crimes during a period of great personal crisis.

Roger Davies, magistrate at London's Horseferry Road Court, said he would have had greater sympathy for him if he had chosen cheaper hotels. "But no, he goes into top hotels and even makes trans-Atlantic telephone calls, with no intention of ever paying the bills," he said.