A FRAUDSTER who cheated his brother and Facebook users has been ordered to repay all the money he got illegally.

Michael Robert Boyes, 31, of Commercial Street, Norton, advertised train sets for sale through Facebook and agreed prices with five people, said Jessica Randell, prosecuting at York Crown Court.

But then he took the money and didn't send on the train sets because he didn't have them. He had used images taken from Google in the advertisements.

He also stole and sold four train sets belonging to his brother which he sold on, and stole money from his relative.

When he appeared before the Recorder of York Judge Paul Batty QC for sentence in July, he claimed he had repaid his brother for everything he had stolen and the case was adjourned for checks.

At the next hearing, the judge heard the brother had not received any money until after the July hearing.

"There is no getting away from the fact that this court was misled," said the judge.

Ms Randell said police had been asked to investigate Boyes over the issue, but had not reached a conclusion.

Boyes, who is a slaughterman, pleaded guilty to five charges of fraud by false representation and two of theft and breaching a conditional discharge made at York Crown Court for breaching a restraining order.

He spent five weeks on remand before finally being sentenced and was given a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years, and ordered to compensate the five Facebook users all their money, a total of £663.

The judge told him: "This was particularly mean offending on your part."

Collecting model trains was a "great source of joy in their lives" for many people, he said. "You took advantage of that fact."

For him, Taryn Turner said: "This man is ashamed of what he has done." He had had a drug problem, but was now clean.