A FORMER undertaker, who was once described as a conman and a fraudster, is facing a second spell behind bars for stealing money grieving relatives had paid him to bury their loved ones.

Christopher Westcott took from families pre-payments of thousands of pounds intended for the funerals of their ailing relatives.

He also tricked banks in an attempt to stop his business, Cathedral Funeral Services, based at Framwellgate Moor, Durham City, going bust.

Westcott, 51, has previous convictions for similar offences, and has served one prison term for theft and obtaining money by deception.

He narrowly escaped a prison sentence after conviction in 2003 for defrauding a former partner in the funeral business.

Westcott was due to go on trial at Durham Crown Court today, having previously denied five counts of theft of sums between £1,125 and £1,695 from customers of the business. They had all taken out funeral plans and paid in instalments to meet the cost of elderly relatives' funerals.

Yesterday, after his return from holiday in Turkey, Westcott appeared at court where he changed his pleas to guilty on all five theft charges.

At a hearing in September, he admitted three counts of obtaining by deception sums of between £357 and £5,000 from banks.

The court was told yesterday that Westcott had health and psychiatric problems because he suffers from multiple sclerosis, and that he is about to go into hospital for surgery.

Judge Esmond Faulks agreed to delay sentence until the New Year to allow Westcott to receive the hospital treatment and to enable a psychiatric assessment and probation reports to be drawn up.

He bailed Westcott to live at an address in Sherburn Village, near Durham, when not in hospital.

Adjourning the hearing he told Westcott: "Just because I'm bailing you does not give any promises over sentence.

Westcott's record includes a six-month prison sentence imposed at Newcastle Crown Court in April 1989 for four counts each of theft and obtaining by deception. He asked for 58 similar offences to be considered.

In August 2003, Gateshead magistrates fined him £1,200, with an order to pay £118 costs, for attempting to obtain by deception.

The earlier hearing in 2003, at Durham Crown Court, resulted in a 160-hour community punishment order, plus £595 compensation, for two counts of obtaining by deception.

He misled families who thought they were calling his former business partner's premises by diverting calls to Cathedral Funeral Services.

When clients asked about his former partner, Westcott told them he was no longer in the funeral business and had gone to Spain to drive buses.

On his conviction, Judge Guy Whitburn described him as a conman and a fraudster.

Westcott will be sentenced for the latest offences on January 20.

That hearing may also include a prosecution application in relation to his assets, in an attempt to recover the money taken from the funeral business clients.