Living the life of Reilly: Fake bomb detector conman pictured on his yacht as judge jails him for ten years and says 'You've got blood on your hands'

James McCormick, 57, sold 'ineffectual' devices for up to £27,000 each

Majority were sold to Iraq, where they are still in use today

Attended UK Trade & Investment seminar on 'how to sell to the UN'



Gadgets are essentially hand-held aerials fixed to plastic hinges

McCormick denies any wrong-doing and claims gadgets he sold wor k

A conman who made £50million by selling fake bomb detectors based on £13 novelty golf ball finders caused the deaths of innocent victims in war zones, a judge said yesterday.

James McCormick, 57, was jailed for ten years for selling the ‘useless devices’ for ‘enormous profit’ to police forces and armies around the world, including Iraq

As pictures of the fraudster enjoying his ill-gotten gains emerged, Judge Richard Hone QC condemned McCormick for his ‘greedy’ pursuit of an extravagant lifestyle which included buying grand homes and a luxury yacht.

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James McCormick on his Sunseeker yacht bought on a whim in Torquay Marina in 2011 McCormick, 57, showed no reaction as he was told his callous confidence trick was the worst fraud imaginable

He said McCormick’s ‘cavalier disregard of the potentially fatal consequences’ of his racket convinced him to pass the maximum sentence he could.

He added: ‘In terms of culpability and harm, I have been unable to imagine a more serious case of its kind.

‘The device was useless, the profits outrageous and your culpability as a fraudster has to be placed in the highest category.

‘I am wholly satisfied that your fraudulent conduct in selling so many useless devices for simply enormous profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent individuals.’



Jailed: James McCormick made £50million and put thousands of lives at risk by selling fake bomb detectors

Business man James McCormick arrives for sentencing at the Old Bailey in London

Judge Hone said the devices are still being used in some areas where they continue to put lives in danger.



‘You have neither insight, shame or any sense of remorse,’ the judge added. ‘Even now you insist they work, in a vain effort to minimise your culpability.

‘You fought the case in the teeth of overwhelming evidence. In a last desperate gamble you rolled the dice with the jury and lost.’



The majority of the conman’s fake detectors were sold to Iraq where they were used at virtually every checkpoint in Baghdad and Basra from 2006.

The gadgets are essentially just hand-held aerials fixed to plastic hinges.

Somehow, however, McCormick persuaded governments and military chiefs that they could detect tiny traces of explosives, drugs, ivory and even humans at a distance of up to three miles. As he secured deals, he was wined and dined by governments and flown around in their jets

Senior British and Iraqi security officials believe his scam allowed suicide bombers to kill and maim thousands. On one occasion terrorists drove a vehicle laden with rockets and missiles through 23 checkpoints in Baghdad where the device was used.

McCormick, a former trainee policeman, used the millions he was paid to fund a lavish lifestyle. He owned a £5million Regency townhouse in Bath, a £1.5million farmhouse near Taunton, Somerset, a £250,000 holiday home in Florida and a £350,000 villa in Cyprus.

Wined and dined: The judge attacked McCormick's greed

High life: Aboard a Niger government jet

Fake: The majority of James McCormick's fake detectors were sold to Iraq where they were used at virtually every checkpoint in Baghdad and Basra from 2006 - and are still in use today (file photo) Fake: McCormick, 57, sold the 'completely ineffectual' devices for up to £27,000 each to police forces and armies around the world Scam: It's believed his scam allowed suicide bombers to kill and maim thousands. On one occasion terrorists drove a vehicle with rockets and missiles through 23 checkpoints in Baghdad where the device was used

The conman also spent £630,000 on a Sunseeker yacht and £210,000 on three horses for one of his two daughters who wants to compete in the British dressage team at the 2016 Olympics.

Although police have frozen £15million of his assets, investigators believe he has laundered at least a further £15million through Cyprus, Belize and Beirut.

The Iraqi government spent £56million on the fake bomb detectors, some of which was paid as bribes to senior figures. These included General Jihad al-Jabiri, head of the Baghdad bomb squad, who helped McCormick win the massive contract. He and two other Iraqi officials are now serving jail terms for corruption.

Spot the difference: This image shows a golf ball finder (centre) in between two of McCormick's adapted versions which he claimed were bona fide bomb detectors

Model: Advanced Detection Equipment 651. Prosecutors said the devices were little more than golf ball finders

McCormick based the fake detector on a novelty golf ball finder called a Golfinder. He imported large shipments of them from the US from 2005. He claimed they worked by using electrostatic energy from the human body, coming to life after the user has shuffled their feet or walked a few steps.

Users were given a variety of cards supposedly programmed to detect different substances.

At first he simply attached stickers bearing the words ‘International Association of Bomb Technicians’ to the golf ball finders to make them look authentic.

Glossy brochures marketing the devices promised that they could pick up substances up to 100ft underwater or 30ft underground. The conman said they could also detect fluids and human beings.

Later versions of the device were modified slightly, but still closely resembled the golf ball finders. McCormick reeled in clients with sales talks in which he purported to explain the science behind his system.

He even claimed to have a doctorate –despite leaving school in Liverpool with just three O-levels.

McCormick denied three charges of fraud, but was found guilty by a jury last week.

Blast: Iraqis gather at the site of a bomb attack in central Baghdad in 2010, at a time that James McCormick's fake detectors were sold to to the country

Millionaire businessman James McCormick (left) is facing jail after being convicted of selling fake bomb detectors. African soldiers trial the fake bomb detectors being sold by McCormick as he watches, smiling

Jim McCormick (pictured) enjoyed a life of luxury with the millions he earned selling his fake bomb detectors - while thousands of people died