AN innocent man ended up with a criminal record when an old school friend gave his name and date-of-birth when he was caught poaching.

The victim knew nothing about his conviction until bailiffs turned up at his home in Darlington to take property in lieu of fines.

He had been found guilty in his absence by magistrates months earlier, while his former friend appeared to have escaped justice.

But he launched a bid to clear his name and proved he was at work when Luke Jackson was poaching in North Yorkshire in February 2014.

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Luke Jackson

Jackson had also given a former address for his school mate when he was quizzed by police so he never received any correspondence.

Last summer, the innocent man contacted police to say he had never been involved in the incident and bailiffs were seeking £480.

Officers looked into the case again, took fingerprints from the signed interview transcript and traced 25-year-old Jackson.

He admitted a charge of perverting the course of public justice at Teesside Crown Court and was locked up for eight months.

His lawyer, Robert Mochrie, told the court it was ironic that he would just have received a fine if he had given his true details.

Jackson, of Park Lane, Darlington, turned up with a sports bag, and Mr Mochrie said: "He's expecting to go straight to prison."

He added: "Had he been candid with the police at the time, no doubt he would have received some form of low-end financial penalty.

"He did not think for one minute an innocent man would be convicted of an offence . . . it is something he bitterly regrets.

"He stupidly thought that would be the end of it. It certainly was not his intention to deliberately get someone into trouble."

The victim told in a statement how he had to lose days at work to carry out his own investigations, and had been left upset.

Judge Simon Phillips, QC, told Jackson: "He states he was shocked that this could have happened. It caused him real concern.

"That concern did not go away overnight because it took him some time to prove his innocence. It was made worse by a worry he might lose his job."

The judge added: "The effect of your misconduct has been not only to seek to extricate yourself but also to implicate another person.

"You had ample opportunity to put things right and you didn't. There is a degree of persistence about your misconduct."