A CROOKED second-hand car buyer got a taste of life behind bars when he used a bouncing cheque to con a motorist out of his Ford Granada, York Crown Court heard.

Conman Stuart Nicholson needed transport and could not afford to pay for it, said Mark McKone, prosecuting.

So he spun a web of lies to persuade motorist Kevin Wood to exchange his Ford Granada for the worthless cheque, and to make excuses to avoid handing over money as he had said he would. Then he complained when Mr Wood tried to cash the cheque.

Eventually, Mr Wood went to Nicholson's home and the conman's wife handed the car over saying Nicholson "no longer wanted it".

"It smacks of dishonesty from the word go," said Judge Paul Hoffman, the Honorary Recorder of York.

After hearing how it was just one of a series of deceptions by the 24-year-old, including cheating a former employer, he remanded him to Hull Prison for four days, Nicholson's first time behind bars.

"Do you want more of the same?" the judge asked Nicholson on the conman's return to court. "No," said Nicholson. "If you break the order I am going to make, there will be more of the same," the judge promised as he ordered him to do 180 hours' community punishment on top of the 54 hours he has yet to finish from a previous sentence for dishonesty.

Nicholson, 24, of Bootham, Clifton, York, pleaded guilty to deception and stealing £224 from a former employer in a separate crime.

Mr McKone said Mr Wood advertised his car for sale on November 14 and he and Nicholson agreed a price of £750. Nicholson offered to pay a deposit, then suggested he leave the bouncing cheque for the full amount instead.

He asked Mr Wood not to cash it, saying that he would bring a cash payment in three days time and took the car and its logbook. He did not return.

When police arrested him, Nicholson blamed his former employer for not giving him a loan to buy the car and said that Mr Wood "should never have banked the cheque".

For Nicholson, Henry Prosser handed in references on his behalf and said he would lose his current job if given a prison sentence. Both Mr Wood and the former employer had got their possessions back. The former employer had stopped Nicholson's wages.

Updated: 09:00 Thursday, July 14, 2005