A “prolific offender” has been jailed for three years after running up more than $8,000 on someone else’s debit account.John Charles Edwards, 43, of Ferry Road, St George’s, was called a “con man” for the second time in ten weeks by Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner this time after pleading guilty to 18 counts of obtaining property by deception.Edwards was last in Magistrates’ Court on April 12, when he received 12 months’ suspended sentence for two counts of the same offence.Yesterday the court heard Edwards used someone else’s HSBC card number between February 2 and May 14 to run up a total debt of $8,361.43.This included charging the Rosemont Guest Suites in Pembroke $1,778.88 for room service and accommodation, repeated charges to Upper Crust Pizza, and the purchase of a $588 PlayStation entertainment system from Electronic City.Edwards also used the card number at Jeans Express, the medical practice of Constance Richards, Island Glass, WW Home Entertainment, the Music Box, Blackbeards Hideout restaurant, Van Buren Shell in Flatts and the Salt Rock Grill in Sandys.The account holder noticed the unauthorised transactions on May 17; Edwards was arrested on June 20.Under interview, he told police he had a photographic memory for numbers, and had kept the victim’s card number in his head since seeing it “long ago”.He used the card number to make purchases over the telephone; on other occasions he would tell shopkeepers he left the debit card behind and make a phone call to get the account number.Edwards also admitted to using the false names, Maxwell and John Davis.He told Mr Warner that a “media blitz” following his April conviction had rendered him unemployable, and that there was no social services programme that could determine why he kept offending.Asked why he did it, Edwards replied: “That’s a good question, your honour. I really have to sit down and think about that.”Mr Warner said he would consider Edwards’ guilty plea and remorse, but told him: “You have conned your way from St George’s to Somerset.”He also noted: “Your previous record it’s a book. It speaks for itself.”Adding that the public needed to be protected, Mr Warner activated Edwards’ 12-month sentence, which had been suspended for a period of two years in April.He also sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment for each offence. All are to be served concurrently.