A man was starting a jail sentence today for a £68,000 rip-off which netted him expensive cars and jet skis.

John Benson used stolen cheques to buy two Mercedes cars and two jet skis, a court heard.

Benson, 46, used local newspapers and the internet to find members of the public selling the items, Chelmsford Crown Court heard .

He got a £4,000 jet ski from a Mark Green in St Lawrence Bay, another jet ski worth £3,400 from a man in Lincolnshire, a £13,000 Mercedes from Gavin Fitzsimmons from South Woodham Ferrers and another Mercedes worth £9,500 from Austin Gingell in Braintree.

Prabhjot Virdi , prosecuting, said the cheques used by Benson had been stolen in 1997 during a burglary at a building society in Hertfordshire.

Benson, of Pallister Road, Clacton, was jailed for a total of three years six months after he admitted two charges of obtaining property by deception. He also asked for two similar matters to be considered.

David Holborn, mitigating, said Benson realised he was going to prison. He had been on drugs but was now drug free.

Mr Holborn also said Benson had been attacked and scarred while serving a jail sentence in Greece and had a large scar on his face from a street mugging.

Judge Jonathan Howarth told Benson: "This was a professional fraud using stolen cheques to defraud innocent sellers of goods."

Published Tuesday, June 24, 2003

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