A 26-year-old man in the United Kingdom has been charged with fraud and false representation after he listed on the auction selling platform eBay what he claimed to be a walking stick that was used by the late Queen Elizabeth II.
The man, named by police as Dru Marshall, was sentenced in the case for attempting to defraud buyers on the website.
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Marshall is said to have listed the item for the equivalent of around $686, describing it as an "antler walking stick," and claimed the money would be donated to cancer research.
Authorities said the man, from the southern England locality of Hampshire, canceled the listing once he discovered police had begun an investigation.
A crown prosecutor in the case, Julie Macey, said Marshall attempted to use the death of the late queen to "try and hoodwink the public with a fake charity auction," according to a statement reported on by the BBC and other outlets.
In the eBay listing, Marshall tried to entice potential bidders with "Free Express Delivery." The listing claimed the late queen used the walking stick in her final years amid her struggles "with her mobility."
Prosecutors said they were able to apprehend Marshall and make sure no one was taken by the scheme. Marshall tried to defend himself in the case by saying it was all just a joke that was a bad idea, and later said it was just a social experiment to see how much attention he could garner with the post, the BBC reported.
Marshall was sentenced to 12 months of community service.
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