A SON waited for his elderly disabled father to fall asleep before twice taking his credit card and using it to buy a £944 computer and to pay a £260 phone bill.

John Paul Blackburn, aged 27, of Claremont Court, Bolton, was caught when the bank called his father to query the purchases. Then an invoice from a computer firm arrived in the post in Blackburn's name.

Nicola Ormrod, prosecuting, told Bolton magistrates how Blackburn visited his father, who lived alone, on December 11 last year.

"He stayed with him until his father fell asleep and then got his credit card from his wallet and used it to pay a £260 phone bill," she said.

Three days later, he visited his father again. Once more, he waited for him to fall asleep before taking the credit card again and using it to purchase a laptop worth £944. After being contacted by the bank and receiving the computer invoice, Mr Blackburn senior confronted his son about the purchases.

Blackburn denied using the card but when his father called the police, he admitted to officers that he had taken it.

He pleaded guilty to the two offences of obtaining property by deception.

Michelle Dance, defending, said Blackburn, who has five previous convictions for offences including dishonesty, has since been forgiven by his father, who has retracted his complaint. Blackburn, who is unemployed, has agreed to pay his father back.

Magistrates sentenced Blackburn to do 100 hours unpaid community work and ordered him to pay £43 prosecution costs.