The ruse by Ali Baglan and Hasan Gilgil was spotted when staff checked the CCTV in the club
TWO Casino hustlers walked off with almost £14,000 – after lifting the lid off an automatic roulette machine and placing the ball where they wanted it go.
The ruse by Ali Baglan and Hasan Gilgil was spotted when staff checked the CCTV in the club.
Gloucestershire Constabulary
Hassan Gilgil and his pal Ali Baglan found a surefire way of winning at roulette in a Bristol casino and walked out with almost £14,000 after placing just two bets each, a court heard
Gloucestershire Constabulary
Ali Baglan pleaded guilty to theft from ‘a meter or automatic machine’ at the casino and was jailed for 16 months The two men placed two bets – but picked up thousands – after discovering the surefire way of ‘winning’ at roulette in a Bristol casino.
Gloucester crown court heard Gilgil placed a £38 bet on number 3 on a roulette wheel and won £1,368. At the same time Baglan wagered £650 on the same number and won £13,050.
Caighli Taylor, prosecuting, said both men were members of the casino and went there together at 6am on January 18.
She said: “Three minutes later Gilgil placed a bet of £382.50 on number 29 and won £1,800. At the same time, Baglan placed £40 on the same number and won £270.
“Mr Baglan could be seen on the casino CCTV to be standing in front of one other person who was in the vicinity at the time – clearly to block his view of Mr Gilgil placing his bet.
“When the CCTV was later checked Gilgil could be seen lifting the glass cover of the roulette wheel as the ball was about to stop spinning and placing it on the number they had chosen.
”In total, she said, they ‘won’ £16,492-50. That was reduced to £13,730 by the time they checked out with the cashier – Gilgil walked away with £1,370 and Baglan £12,400.
Thanks to the CCTV and a computerised system to monitor the roulette wheels the pair’s theft was discovered and they were easily arrested because they left their fingerprints and the club had their details in its membership records, said Ms Taylor.
She added: “Both admitted the offence but they each said it was the other who led the way. They each tried to apportion more blame on the other.
”None of the cash had been recovered, added the prosecutor.
Baglan, 31, of Longlevens, Gloucester and Gilgil, 30, of Podsmead, Gloucester, pleaded guilty to theft from ‘a meter or automatic machine’ at the casino on January 18 this year and were each jailed for 16 months. Gilgil had made seven previous court appearances for motoring and public disorder offences and had served a 28 week jail term but Baglan was of previous good character, she said.
Steve Young, for Baglan, said he came to the Uk from Turkey in 2003 and is married with three young children.
He runs a takeaway on Bristol road, Gloucester, with three employees and if jailed the business would collapse and it would be ‘catastrophic’ for his family, Mr Young said.
Both defendants had gambling habits, he told the court. On the day of the offence, he said, Gilgil rang Baglan telling him he was at the casino and had found a way of tricking it out of money.
Mr Young added: “He said he needed someone to help him. It is accepted my client then went there knowing he would be taking part in some kind of deception.
“Whilst he does not blame Gilgil he categorically does not accept what Gilgil says – that it was Mr Baglan’s idea. It was Gilgil who had discovered this ruse.
“It was remarkable how easy it was for this offence to be committed. These roulette wheels are not manned. Mr Gilgil simply lifted the lid up, picked the ball up and put it on a number they had bet on.
“It was an opportunist and ridiculously easy way of winning a great deal of money with no-one watching. “When the money was paid out no-one did any checks or looked at the CCTV.
“But later when the CCTV was checked and these men were seen lifting the lid it was easy to trace them because they had left their fingerprints on the machine.
“I don’t blame the casino, of course, but there was an incredible lack of supervision and monitoring and the manager simply let them walk out without checking after such a big win.”
Alamy
Gloucester crown court heard the wins were not down to skill or good fortune – the pair had simply lifted the lid off an automatic roulette machine and placed the ball where they wanted it go Gilgil did not have a lawyer to represent him but had written a letter to the court. A probation officer, Jo Hall, also interviewed him at court and spoke for him.
She said he claimed the theft was Baglan’s idea: “He says Mr Baglan suggested he should lift the glass lid and he didn’t see any harm at that time because he had been losing money he had borrowed from a cousin to go there.
“He has a fish and chip shop which he has run for the last seven months. He has two young children.
“He is in a low mood as he has recently been in custody because he did not attend an earlier hearing and he was arrested.
”She recommended a suspended sentence for Gilgil – and Mr Young asked for the same for Baglan. The judge, Recorder Michael Vere-Hodge QC, said “This was a classic joint enterprise. Each of you had a part to play. There was a level of planning and expertise and dexterity which enabled you to exploit what seems to have been a failure in the security of the casino, allowing you to take a good deal of money.
“To suspend sentence would not, in my view, reflect in any way the seriousness of this planned and dexterous theft.
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