International fraudster Farah Damji was finally sentenced yesterday to three and half years in prison after months of delay in sentencing.
The news will come as a huge relief to the dozens of victims, many of who were defrauded out of thousands of pounds by the 39 year old millionaire's daughter.
Damji published the magazine Indobrit before changing its name to Another Generation after losing a legal battle.
As AIM first reported, Damji was arrested in May this year. She has since been detained mostly at Holloway prison while a series of hiccups kept pushing back the date of the sentencing.
In court yesterday she was represented by the solicitor Imran Khan.
She pleaded guilty to 25 charges in total against her in court, of which 6 related to theft and 11 counts were of obtaining property or services by deception between October 15th 2002 and June 31st this year.
These included spending £50,000 in shopping sprees on stolen credit cards, stealing two diamond platinum rings worth £10,000 by pretending to be an assistant to a showbiz reporterm, and travelling around the country and staying at hotels under false names while paying by other people's credit cards.
Damji also admitted to two counts of perverting the course of justice between February 11th and 15th this year.
She first phoned a prosecution witness to say he was not needed for the trial, forcing it to be postponed. Then she got hold of the Crown barrister's home phone number and tried to persuade him to drop the case.
When that did not work she called the CPS, pretending to be a secretary to the then Home Secretary David Blunkett, and said it was not in the public interest to go ahead with the trial.
The first 2 years of her sentence relate to the dishonesty and fraud charges while the latter 18 months are for perverting the course of justice. She has to serve the two sentences consecutively.
Nicholas Wrack, for the defence, said that she had lost "her children, her reputation, her status and position in the media industry. She has lost her business, her magazine and she has lost her money."
He added that Damji was treated in prison for drug addiction and that a psychiatrists's report had branded her as having a "borderline personality disorder".
Farah Damji has two children, a boy, 8, and a girl, 2. Her mother in South Africa is now looking after them.
Passing sentence the judge told Damji: "You are undoubtedly an intelligent person of considerable social and educational standing in the community.
"However, in my judgment you are a thoroughly dishonest and manipulative woman, and the aggravated features of your offending include the way in which you caused suspicion to fall on your employees and others to whom you were in flagrant breach of your position as an editor."
"Your offences of dishonesty viewed cumulatively demand the imposition of an immediate custodial sentence."
Another Generation stopped publishing months ago and Damji has been forced to declare herself bankrupt. Her two houses in England are now in the process of being repossessed.
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