A MAN who tricked a collector into paying him £2,400 for a non-existent guitar and then sent him a case containing a brick has been jailed for 18 months. Thomas Charlton advertised a 1960 Gibson Les Paul guitar on the internet.

A MAN who tricked a collector into paying him £2,400 for a non-existent guitar and then sent him a case containing a brick has been jailed for 18 months.

Thomas Charlton, of Nacton Road, Ipswich, advertised the Gibson 1960 Les Paul guitar on the internet and was paid £2,400 for it by a collector.

However, the purchaser was left out of pocket after being sent a guitar case containing just a brick, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

Charlton, 26, had denied obtaining a money transfer by deception, but changed his plea to guilty on the second day of his trial last month.

Sentencing him yesterday, Judge Peter Thompson said: "You offered for sale on the internet an expensive and desirable, but non-existent guitar. You created a very persuasive deception."

Nicholas Jack, mitigating, said Charlton had committed the offence because he had been under financial pressure.

He said Charlton had been working as an accountant on six-month contracts, but had been made redundant at a time when he had considerable debts.

"He was getting letters from bailiffs and felt circumstances were spiralling out of control. He took the actions the court has heard about. He admits these actions were foolish," said Mr Jack.