A COMPULSIVE liar who pretended to be a qualified barrister and represented people in court wearing a wig he had bought on eBay has been jailed for two years.

Ian Clegg, 32, bought a barrister’s wig and gown from the auction website and told people he was starting his own law firm.

Durham Crown Court heard he took county court action to recover debts owed to business people he met through a church and twice appeared at a magistrates’ court to speak on behalf of people charged with motoring offences.

While successful barristers can enjoy wealthy lifestyles, the court heard Clegg did not do it for the money – he probably only received a few hundred pounds – but for the kudos and respect he thought he would enjoy as a barrister.

Clegg’s bogus career came to an end when solicitors and staff at the magistrates’ court where he appeared became suspicious and checked his credentials. When it was found he was pretending to be a barrister, police were called and he made a full confession to officers.

At a previous hearing, Clegg, formerly of Trinity Building, Cambridge Square, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges of purporting to be a barrister, offences under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, three charges of fraud and one of failing to answer bail.

David Brooke, prosecuting, told the court that Clegg had previous convictions for obtaining services and property by deception relating to incidents in which he pretended to be an employee of the pub chain J D Wetherspoon to get hotel accommodation, and was in breach of a suspended sentence when he was pretending to be a barrister.

Clegg met his clients through the congregation of a church in Middlesbrough, whose priest put him up for a while.

Clegg said he was studying for a Master’s degree, having completed a law degree, described himself as a barrister and spoke of his work before the courts and told acquaintances he knew the Recorder of Middlesbrough, Peter Fox.

Clegg offered to act for free for a woman who was having problems over the dismissal of an employee, and then said he would act to recover unpaid fees from the parents of children who had been at a nursery.

Mr Brooke said Clegg pursued the debts “very aggressively”, but told his clients they would not have to pay a penny because he was acting on a no-win, no-fee basis. He also acted for the director of a cleaning company, threatening a man who owed £200 with bankruptcy and bailiffs if he did not pay up.

He appeared at Langbaurgh Magistrates’ Court, Guisborough, near Redcar, to represent a lorry driver accused of speeding and, while there, offered to represent a woman facing a charge of driving without insurance who did not have a solicitor. Her case was adjourned. He told the lorry driver: “I have the legal qualifications to run rings around them all.’’

The court was not told the outcome of the cases, but Mr Brooke said that Clegg also offered to do some probate work for the lorry driver, whose wife had died, but the paperwork was rejected because he had not filled it in properly.

The magistrates’ court clerk and prosecutor became suspicious of Clegg because he seemed unaware of the correct court procedure – although he told them he had taken the barristers’ training course at Manchester, had worked in chambers in Middlesbrough and was founding his own firm, Yellow Apple.

Police found Clegg was renting an office where they found case files, a rubber stamp, gown and wig.

He was even preparing to hire a female clerk.

He admitted what he had done but claimed he had completed one year of a law degree, which he said, entitled him to practise contract law and use the letters LLB after his name.

Clegg apologised for the “upset and aggravation” he had caused, the court was told.

In mitigation, Paul Green said that Clegg had long-standing psychological problems, for which he needed treatment, and “remains adamant he didn’t do it for the money”. He added: “At most he received a couple of hundred pounds. He enjoyed the kudos and respect he received when people believed he was a barrister.”

Judge Esmond Faulks, who read psychiatric and pre-sentence reports, told Clegg: “You are a compulsive liar (who) wanted to appear more important than you are, so people would look up to you, and that was your basic motive over those months rather than feathering your own nest.”

Clegg was also made subject of a five-year anti-social behaviour order, the conditions of which include a prohibition on him claiming that he is legally qualified and which requires him to tell police if he gets a job.