A penniless company director posed as the road m

A penniless company director posed as the road manager of
rock super group Queen in a last ditch attempt to stop his bank
foreclosing on the mortgage he swindled from them, a court heard
today (Wed).

Richard Peet, 37, forged a letter from a top entertainment
law firm supporting his lies that the band had paid him 90,000
via a Jersey-based trust account.

But the desperate ruse by the ‘Walter Mitty’ character
to prevent the truth of earlier frauds coming to light only
landed him in deeper trouble.

And today the man who still insists he wrote the lyrics of
many of the late Freddie Mercury’s chart-topping bands hits, was
jailed for 27 months.

Rejecting a defence plea that Peet who suffers from ‘Walter
Mitty Syndrome’ needs help not punishment, Judge Brian Capstick
QC said: ‘I know about your capacity to invent and fantasise.

‘It maybe prison will not address the problems you present,
but I haven’t only to consider the criminal but the crimes he
commits.

‘
Peet’s financial problems began after he obtained a second
mortgage on his home in Davos Close, Woking, Surrey.

When he failed to meet the payments the building society
started possession proceedings, said prosecutor Mr David Howker.

Using phoney details and references he obtained another
mortgage for pnds stlng 65,000 on a property in Elverston Way,
Reading, Berkshire.

A few months later he got a second mortgage on the Reading
property, again by supplying false particulars, said counsel.

At the same time the mortgagees on his first home had taken
him to to the county court to recover the pnds stlng 30,000
shortfall after they sold the Woking property.

In defence of that action audacious Peet swore out an affida
vit in which he claimed he had taken out mortgage protection
insurance.

In fact Peet forged an endowment form to that effect in an
attempt to allege breach of contract on the part of the mortgage
broker.

Although his forgery initially went undetected it did not
stop the building society winning their action, the court heard.

As the net of his creditors closed on the second property
Peet move deeper into deception to ward them off.

In an attempt to stop the repossession of the Reading proper
ty he falsely claimed he had a large amount of money in a Jersey
based trust fund due to mature in 1993.

‘He enlisted the help of a financial adviser he had met
earlier to stave off the the building society.

He told him he
had been involved with the rock band Queen and that when they
parted some 90,000 pounds had been paid into a trust fund for
him,’ said counsel.

Peet was told he would have to provide documentary evidence
to support his story, the court was told.

He then contacted the ‘reputable’ firm of Harbottle and Lewes
in Hanover Square, central London.

Some months earlier he had made approaches to the firm using
the identity of another man during which he formally instructed
them to act in relation to another matter.

The unsuspecting firm wrote a letter by way of acknowledge
ment.

Peet erased their original message and using the law firm’s
headed paper typed in a letter which purported to give support to
his lie about the trust fund.

‘For good measure he instructed another large commercial firm
to act for him as regards this fictional money – writing to them
with regards to the recovery of trust money plus interest,’ said
Mr Howker.

Both those letters were sent to the financial adviser ‘but
the scheme didn’t come to an end because Peet was arrested,’ said
counsel.

His dishonesty did not stop even after his arrest.

He went on
to forge another document in relation to the first mortgage in an
attempt to cover his tracks.

Inquiries revealed that his own firm Mac Securities, which he
claimed organised top pop gigs and even arranged the security for
a Rolling Stones concert, never earned him a penny.

Peet, of North Way, Woosehill, Wokingham, Berks.

, pleaded
guilty to two charges of obtaining mortgages by deception,
perjury and forgery between January 1990 and June last year.

The total loss to two building societies was about pnds stlng
39,000, said Mr Howker.

Reports on him revealed that he was suffering from ‘Walter
Mitty Syndrome.

‘
‘Anyone suffering from this lives in a world of fantasy, a world
which even now he is creating for himself,’ said Mr Peter
Spinks, defending.

Peet even spun his ‘fantastic stories’ to his own defence team
claiming that he had seen active service with the SAS in the
Falklands.

Even after being told they would check out the story he main
tained it, said Mr Spinks.

‘He, having built this fantasy world for himself, half be
lieved it was true.

He says he was responsible for some of the
hit songs of the group Queen.

‘
The reports explained that Peet ‘creates fantasy to enhance
his fragile self-image.

‘
They recommended probation and pyschiatric help.

Peet’s wife, a civil servant with the Inland Revenue, has since
left him the court was told.

ENDS
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