A PIZZA delivery driver using the name Lord Griffiths fraudulently cashed more than £3,000 using blank cheques sent to a previous tenant of his property.

Worcester Magistrates Court was told how Stephen Griffiths discovered three blank cheques from a credit card account belonging to a woman called Melanie Clark. Griffiths wrote out three £800 cheques to himself and paid them into a bank account using the name Lord Griffiths – a title that he had bought on the internet.

Griffiths was renting a property in Rainthorpe Avenue, St Peter’s, Worces-ter, when he opened mail that was not addressed to him. The 34-year-old, of Worcester Road, Malvern, then discovered two further cheques which had been sent to Ms Clark and used them to pay more money into his account.

Sallie Hewitt, prosecuting, said the total amount which he managed to cash between December 2008 and January 2009 was £3,309. Fraud investigators were alerted after Ms Clark contacted MBNA credit card services to say money was missing from her account. The cheques were examined by experts and it was discovered the signature used to sign them was fraudulent.

Griffiths was arrested and initially told police the letters were opened by a lodger who was staying with him called Daniel Townsend. Griffiths said Mr Townsend had asked him to pay the cheques into his bank account and then give him the cash.

Griffiths later conceded Daniel Townsend did not exist. He had opened the letters himself then used the cash to pay off drug debts. He pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud by misrepresentation at an earlier court hearing.

Mark Sheward, defending, said: “He had initially given a story that was clearly not going to be believed by anyone but then accepted responsibility and pleaded guilty.”

The court was told how Griffiths was jailed for 12 months in 2004 after pocketing £4,604 from the sale of a car when working as business manager at Brooklyn Ford in Alcester. He also had a string of other convictions for dishonesty and fraud offences.

Deputy district judge David Stott sentenced Griffiths to eight months’ custody suspended for two years. He was also given 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £3,309 compensation. Mr Stott said he gave Griffiths credit for pleading guilty and the fact his last conviction was in 2004.

Your Worcester News was the only member of the media at this hearing.