A CONFIDENCE trickster who swindled a vulnerable pensioner and posed as a uniformed police officer to steal a car was behind bars last night.

Christopher David Smith, 18, of Pelaw Road, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, admitted a string of deceptions at Consett Magistrates' Court yesterday.

He was sentenced to ten months in a Young Offenders' Institution.

The court heard how, in six months, he impersonated a beat bobby, undercover detective, community safety officer and a boy scout as part of his meticulously planned scams.

Simon Crowder, prosecuting, said: "Throughout this, he attempts to gain the confidence of people, including two who were elderly and vulnerable.

"There is a great deal of planning that appears to go into these offences."

In April, aged only 17, Smith posed as a community safety officer to gain the trust of an 87-year-old woman at a farm near Chester-le-Street.

During two visits, he convinced her to hand over her credit card and write him a £30 cheque. He also stole five blank cheques.

He later tried to use the card to buy a £2,400 Seat Ibiza car and to hire a limousine, but it was declined both times.

In May, he posed as an undercover CID officer and tried to commandeer a Ford Escort in Station Road North, Fencehouses, near Chester-le-Street.

When the victim's mother became suspicious, he left the house and came back several hours later dressed in police uniform.

He then convinced the family to hand over the car, its vehicle registration document and MoT certificate.

When police arrested him in the car, they found a disguise kit containing a police-style utility belt complete with handcuffs, radio and eyepatch.

On October 5, while still on bail for these offences, he posed as a cub scout, calling on a pensioner in Chester-le-Street. He said he was collecting sponsorship money, but left when his intended victim became suspicious.

The court also heard he had a previous conviction for burglary.

Last December, while working at a fish and chip shop in Chester-le-Street, he made a copy of the safe key and used it on two occasions to steal thousands of pounds.

Steve Kettlewell, in mitigation, said his client was a fantasist with a car obsession who struggled to make friends and invented tall stories to impress people.

He said: "He has been living in fantasy land. Something within him seems to trigger so that he cannot just be himself.

"One of the difficulties that he has is low self-esteem. He is clearly an intelligent young man, but what he does not have is any confidence."

Smith admitted burglary, three counts of obtaining money or property by deception, failure to surrender to bail and one count of attempting to obtain money by deception. He asked for six similar offences to be taken into consideration.