AN internet conman who faked his own death in a bid to avoid angry debtors has been jailed for two years.

Jason Hart cheated 28 eBay customers out of £23,500 by “selling” items he did not have.

And when his angry customers chased him for their money, he spun a “web of deceit”, faking his own death and claiming his mum had died.

Hart, aged 33, of Moorside Avenue, Farnworth, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for conspiracy to commit fraud and a further six months for perjury.

Sentencing him at Bolton Crown Court yesterday, Judge Steven Everett, said: “It’s clear that you are a dishonest and manipulative individual.”

Alaric Bassano, prosecuting, said Hart, along with his ex-girlfriend, Louise Gregory, set up eBay accounts in 2005. Between September, 2006, and April, 2007, the accounts were used to cheat customers.

Mr Bassano said: “Goods were listed for sale, contracts concluded and payments made. However, the goods were never dispatched to the purchasers, nor were refunds tendered.”

Some victims lost up to £5,000 on items such as England test match tickets, rugby World Cup tickets, games consoles and mobile phones.

In each instance, the vendor’s details were given as Jason Hart and all email correspondence was conducted in his name.

The court heard all payment was requested to be made to Jason Hart but, in most cases, the offending eBay account was that of Gregory and most of the victims posted their cheques to her home address in Farnworth.

The couple spent the cash on themselves, buying a car, a holiday and household items.

Mr Bassano said: “Hart’s dishonesty in cheating his victims out of their money was surpassed by him in the lies he deployed whilst fobbing off disgruntled victims.”

He told seven victims he could not deal with the matter as he was in Canada. He told three victims his mother had died — the same lie he told to magistrates in 2006 in a bid to get out of paying a fine.

In telephone conversations with two victims, he denied being the person they had dealt with, despite them recognising his voice.

Mr Bassano added: “He claimed to two victims that Jason Hart was, in fact, dead and referred them to a news story in The Bolton News with the headline, ‘Tragedy of blaze hero’.”

Mr Bassano said it was an “irresistible inference” that Hart committed this hoax by phoning a reporter and pretending to be his own father, referring to an earlier, genuine, story in which it was reported he had saved his parents from a fire.

Judge Everett said Hart “misused” the article in the most “horrible, cynical fashion”.

As a result, the newspaper contacted the police and Gregory was also arrested.

After being charged, Hart appeared at Bolton Magistrates Court in February, 2008. During proceedings, officials noted his mother was in court.

The court clerk then checked records and realised that, in June, 2006, Hart had told the court that his mother had died. He was subsequently charged with perjury.

Gregory, aged 27, of Victoria Street, Farnworth, pleaded guilty to acquiring criminal property at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to 150 hours community service and ordered to pay £500 costs.

PC John Smith led the investigation into Hart's scam. He said: “Over a number of years, Hart systematically conned dozens of people out of their hard-earned money.

“He continually abused their trust and took their money. All the while, countless customers lost out on presents for Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries.”

Alexandra Simmonds, defending, said Hart was sorry for the heartache he had caused, claiming he was an “inadequate person” who still lived with his parents and played on his computer. She said he was fragile and had tried to commit suicide in the past.