West Ham players ‘ripped off’

A man allegedly lured West Ham players and staff into buying luxury hampers for Christmas which were never delivered, before using their bank card details to spend thousands, a court heard.

Former manager Sam Allardyce was among 13 people, including England striker Andy Carroll, who allegedly paid out a total of £7,310 to Stephen Ackerman in December 2014 .

Mr Ackerman, of Loughton, Essex, pleaded not guilty in March and yesterday denied six further counts of fraud amounting to about £54,730 at Snaresbrook Crown Court, east London.

The 48-year-old is charged with possessing a chip and pin processing device “for use in the course of or in connection with a fraud”.

He is also accused of making “false representations to others which were and which he knew were or might be untrue or misleading, namely that he or another were authorised to use a bank card of, and/or the name and bank card details” of five people to purchase goods and services.

He then used the details of five of those who paid by card to further defraud them, taking over £50,000.

Former West Ham players and ex-manager Mr Allardyce are expected to give evidence today when the trial continues.