AN IPSWICH salesman who told lies to get a �24,000 a year job has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Jane Hunt

AN IPSWICH salesman who told lies to get a �24,000 a year job has been given a suspended prison sentence.

James Clarke landed the job, which came with a company car, after telling a recruitment agency he hadn't got a criminal record and telling his new employer he had a clean driving licence, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Six months after starting work for a refrigeration and air conditioning company in Crowfield, Clarke was stopped by police while driving his company car in Ipswich.

Peter Gair, prosecuting, said checks revealed that he hadn't got a current driving licence and that he had had two convictions for drink driving.

Clarke, 30, of Witney Close, admitted two offences of fraud by making false representations to the recruitment agency and to his employer.

He was given a 26-week jail sentence suspended for two years and ordered to do 100 hours' unpaid work in the community.

The court heard that Clarke had convictions for drink driving in 2001 and 2004, and in 2007 had been given a community penalty for failing to disclose that he was a banned driver when he applied for another job.

Nicola May, for Clarke, said he realised how stupid his behaviour had been.

She said her client had always led an industrious life and had a strong work ethic.

She said that following his drink driving convictions Clarke had found it difficult to get work and to him being on benefits “wasn't an option”.

She said he had now set up his own business and had a driving licence.