A CONMAN who promised to sell a car for nearly £8,000 then pocketed the cash has been spared jail.

Christopher Workman, aged 59, pleaded guilty to fraud six years after he promised to sell a Toyota pickup truck to a man he met in a pub in Cornwall.

Preston Crown Court heard Workman, of Bolton Road, Bolton, had told Michael Harrison he worked in the motor trade and could get him the vehicle he wanted.

Mr Harrison, who lives in Truro, Cornwall, then posted a cheque to Workman at his home address in Bolton — despite having only just met Workman and never viewing the vehicle.

Workman approached a neighbour — who owned the vehicle he had in mind to sell — and asked if he would be willing to let him act as a broker.

But when his neighbour, John McGuigan, said he did not want to sell the vehicle, Workman pocketed the cash.

Recorder Mohammed Hussain, sentencing, said: “The way you conducted yourself and presented yourself engendered trust in Mr Harrison. He had sufficient confidence in you for you to procure for him a vehicle for the sum of £7,950 without knowing anything about you or having ever seen the vehicle.”

In March 2010, Workman was declared bankrupt and his assets were frozen leaving him unable to repay the money.

In 2011 Workman’s brother Ian — a billionaire car salesman — was convicted of murdering his wife in a row about divorce settlement.

Mr Harrison reported the fraud to Cornwall police in 2010, after trying to get his money back from Workman, and the case was transferred to Greater Manchester but no action was taken until the case against Ian Workman had reached a conclusion as the court heard Christopher Workman was to be a witness in the case.

Recorder Hussain said: “This offence was committed more than six years ago. Since then you have demonstrated your ability to conduct yourself in a law abiding and socially acceptable manner. You have not come before the justice system.”

Mr Harrison was able to recoup the VAT he paid for the vehicle and Workman promised to repay the remaining £6,600 after calling upon friends and family to loan him the money.

Recorder Hussain said: “It is to your credit that despite having no personal resources to make good the loss you have been able to rely on friends and family and have offered to compensate Mr Harrison.”

He made Workman the subject of a 12 month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work.