Man who falsely uses Louis Theroux name to check into pub is sentenced

A man who conned his way into a two-night stay at a Somerset pub after claiming to be TV presenter Louis Theroux has been given a community order.

Allan Debenham from Taunton pleaded guilty at South Somerset Magistrates' Court to dishonestly making a false representation after giving false details to the BBC's finance department, when he checked into the Duke of York pub near Illminster. The court heard that he also used the same means to book a taxi, reported BBC News.
Debenham was given a one-year community order and ordered to pay back the £165 he defrauded from the hotel and £14.70 to the taxi firm.

In an earlier court hearing, his lawyer Chris Ivory said that Debenham had turned to alcohol after losing his job, his partner and his home at the end of last year.

"In desperation he tried it on," said Ivory. " He managed to get a couple of nights' free accommodation and he accepts the prosecution case in respect of that.