A “PROFESSIONAL fraudster” who stole a car from a Bradford woman by conning her with a false payment of £10,000 has been jailed.

Nicolas Burke, 29, visited Rumana Miah at her home in the city on December 12 last year after seeing her Volkswagen Golf advertised on eBay.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye told Bradford Crown Court that after Burke, who introduced himself to Mrs Miah as ‘Peter’, had agreed a price, he made a phone call to a third party to arrange payment of the money into her account.

Miss Kaye said although she thought the defendant was acting “strange”, Mrs Miah checked her bank account and the money appeared to have been credited.

The court heard, however, she had failed to see that the credit was only pending.

After being given the keys, Burke left with the vehicle and when Mrs Miah checked her account the following day, she saw that the transaction had not been made.

Miss Kaye said that the Golf had never been recovered, leaving Mrs Miah without a car and “out of pocket by £10,000”.

Burke was identified by CCTV footage captured while he was talking with Mrs Miah in her kitchen.

In interview, he refused to name the friend he had made the phone call to, and denied committing any form of deception.

Appearing via video link from prison in Leeds yesterday, Burke, whose most recent address is understood to have been Kirkstall Road, Barnsley, pleaded guilty to charges of theft and fraud by false representation.

Miss Kaye told the court that Burke had a history of offending using the “exact same modus operandi”, stating he had been jailed for 32 months in July 2015 for theft and fraud at Burnley Crown Court.

It was reported at the time that the 26 counts of fraud related to more than 20 victims targeted over a 15-month period via online sites such as Autotrader, eBay, and Gumtree.

The offences reportedly occurred across Rossendale, Hyndburn, Burnley, and Rotherham involving cars totalling more than £178,000 in value.

Burke’s actions were described as showing a “mind-boggling lack of sophistication”, with the defendant reportedly claiming in one incident to be a professional footballer for Burnley FC.

Miss Kaye also told the court that Burke had been jailed for two years at Sheffield Crown Court in May after again pleading guilty to theft and fraud.

The charges related to two incidents, one in November 2016 and one in January this year, in which Burke stole two Audis, each worth around £11,000.

In each case, Burke again made a call to his friend who pretended to be from his bank.

The sellers were persuaded to give up their bank details, but the negotiated transfers never took place.

Miss Kaye said Burke’s offending constituted high culpability on his part due to the degree of planning involved in the fraud.

Judge Jonathan Rose said the offences involving Mrs Miah in Bradford ought to have been dealt with when Burke was sentenced at Sheffield in May, adding that any sentence would run concurrently alongside his current jail term.

Sentencing him to 18 months in prison, he told Burke: “You are a professional fraudster.

“It is not the most complex fraud, but it deprives innocent victims of property of high value to them.

“It is only by imposing a prison sentence that the public can be protected from you.”

A spokesman for Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cyber crime reporting centre, said reports of offending like Burke’s were relatively rare, but warned against the consequences of such transactions.

They said that reports of victims sending payment for cars bought online but then never receiving the vehicle were far more common.

The spokesman said: “Online auctions and marketplaces have become a very popular way of trading, but fraudsters are using them to take advantage of your trust to sell poor-quality or non-existent items.

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“If you’re selling, you may not be paid. The buyer will give an excuse as to why they can’t send payment and will ask you to deliver the items you’ve sold first and expect the money later.

“In other cases you may be asked to give your identity details or personal financial information to an online seller who has used them to defraud you.

“If you are a victim of shopping or auction fraud, the most immediate problem is that you have no real prospect of returning the goods or having your money refunded.”