Court hears former Norwich soldier was ‘duped’

A Norwich man has been handed a six-month community order and ordered to pay �500 legal costs after magistrates took the view that he had been 'duped'.

Craig Townsend, of Mousehold Street, appeared at Norwich Magistrates Court today to be sentenced for the re-use of a prohibited company name without court permission.

The 25-year-old had admitted the charge when he first appeared before magistrates on Thursday, October 11. The former soldier had been listed as the sole director of a company named GKT Securities Ltd between August 31, 2008 and November 17, 2010.

Chairman of the magistrates' bench, Charles Nevick, told him: 'We have taken the view that you were duped, as even the prosecution accepts you were the minnow and not the prime mover.'