Two men who used a fake banking app to steal a £2,000 graphics card advertised on Facebook have been sentenced following a lengthy investigation.

Shane McDonagh, 27, from Blackburn in Lancashire, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment and ordered to pay £190 to the victim surcharge following charges of theft from the person of another, fraud and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Eamon Maughan, 23, from Little Billington in Bedfordshire, was sentenced to a 12 month community order, including 200 hours of unpaid work, and was ordered to pay £1,050 in compensation to the victim after being charged with theft from the person of another.

Officers received a 999 call just before 7pm on January 3, 2022 reporting a fight in progress on Station Road, Addlestone. The victim was found at Tesco Extra in Addlestone with facial injuries.

He said that two men had stolen a graphics card worth £2,100 from him after they had contacted him through Facebook Marketplace where the card had been advertised for sale.

Maughan drove McDonagh into Surrey to meet the victim at the Tesco store and waited outside acting as look-out.

McDonagh showed the victim a fake Bank of Ireland app on his phone showing he had transferred the money to him for the graphics card.

As the victim and McDonagh walked out of the store onto Station Road, the victim realised the money had not entered his account and tried to get the card back from McDonagh. He was assaulted by McDonagh before both he and Maughan made off down an alleyway.

The victim gave chase but was punched in the head by McDonagh, who then jumped into a car with Maughan and made off.

Through extensive enquiries with Facebook and trawling through CCTV and ANPR footage, officers were able to piece together enough evidence to identify McDonagh and Maughan.

They discovered that both men had travelled from Northolt in London to Addlestone on the day of the offence and that they had travelled back to Northolt after they stole the card.

McDonagh was arrested by police on October 31, 2022 in Lancashire and Maughan was arrested on January 13, 2023 in Staines-upon-Thames after he was stopped in a vehicle wearing the same jacket he had worn when he committed the offence nearly a year before.

Officers also found messages on the two men’s phones discussing committing the offence and taking out insurance on the vehicle they used during the offence.

Maughan had also messaged his mother to tell her they’d made £650 each from the sale of the stolen graphics card.

The victim was also able to pick both men out from an ID line up over a year later, and both men were charged in December 2023.

Maughan pleaded guilty when he appeared at Guildford Crown Court on April 18, 2024. McDonagh appeared at the same court on June 3, 2024 and pleaded not guilty, with a trial set for March 2, 2026.

However, on February 12, 2025, he was arrested for a similar offence in Lancashire after posing as a purchaser of a high value watch, making no payment and attempting to flee after receiving the watch.

He also threatened the victim with violence and was charged and remanded into custody.

McDonagh later pleaded guilty to these matters and changed his plea to guilty for the Surrey offences. He was sentenced in relation to all the offences at Preston Crown Court on August 21, 2025, receiving a two-year sentence for the Lancashire offences, bringing his total prison sentence to three years and six months.

In his personal statement, which was read out to the court, the victim said: “The crime had a devastating impact both, on my physical wellbeing and my mental health.

“I was in so much shock that I was frightened of going outside and had to book some time off work after the incident. I could not eat and sleep properly in the following days.”

He also praised the investigating team for their time and effort, as well as the Victim and Witness Care Unit team for the support they had provided.

Detective Sergeant Daniel Bell, who investigated the case, said: “I would like to praise the victim in this matter for his patience while this case concluded.

“It has been a long road, but a thorough investigation has ensured that both offenders, who were completely unknown to the victim, have been brought to justice. I hope this sentencing serves as a deterrent to other people that if you travel into our county to commit crime, we will find you and bring you to justice.”