A CONMAN who pocketed almost £5,000 by selling non-existent tickets to fans desperate to see the likes of One Direction and Justin Timberlake has been jailed for almost two years.

Matthew Thompson, aged 36, started advertising the bogus tickets on the internet just three weeks after he was allowed to keep his freedom by a judge for a string of identical offences.

Richard McConaghy, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Thompson had lied to people wanting to buy the tickets, saying he could not attend because he was going on holiday or was pulling out because he realised his daughter was too young to stand.

They were plausible reasons he put forward, said Mr McConaghy, who said once Thompson had got the money, no tickets were forwarded on and a number of people had been left disappointed.

All of his dealings were done on Gumtree or eBay and as Thompson had used his own mobile telephone number or email address, he was quickly traced by police.

Gurdeep Garcha, defending, said Thompson recognised they were mean offences that had caused great upset to people who had put their faith in the internet.

He told the court life had deteriorated for Thompson at the time, he was drinking to excess and he had been encouraged to continue offending by a previous partner who had "lavish tastes".

Mr Garcha said: "He was at a very low ebb at the time. He now recognises the pain and upset he has caused to his victims. It was plainly easy for him to commit the offences.

"But it was amateurish offending because he used his own mobile and his own account for the money which meant he was very easy to track down.

"People were desperate to see these top acts and fraudsters know they will be willing to pay out big money."

Judge Amjad Nawaz told Thompson, of Tudor Vale in Lower Gornal: "You took hard earned money from your victims and you lived a lavish lifestyle at their expense."

He said it was clear he carried on committing the crimes despite being given a chance and he had been warned what would happen if he was caught again by the police.

The judge said Thompson had continued to reoffend even while he was being investigated for the earlier offences for which he was given a 20 week jail term, suspended for two years.

Thompson admitted 12 charges of fraud involving £2,110 and he asked for 14 other similar offences involving £2,526 to be taken into consideration.

He also admitted breaching his suspended prison sentence and he was jailed for 70 weeks for the offences before the court, with the judge ruling he should also go to prison for the 20 weeks - to be served consecutively.

Thompson is now facing a further court hearing where his assets could be seized.