A PAIR of travelling con artists were caught after they moved their nationwide scam against a high street firm to the North-East.

Sion Roberts and Andrew Jones had ripped off catalogue store Argos for six months and £24,000 before they were snared on Teesside.

Yesterday, scam mastermind Roberts was jailed for 14 months after Judge Howard Crowson told him: “This was a well-planned, professionally-executed fraud.”

The pair travelled the country between August last year and January this year, and hit the company 234 times, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The scam involved copied receipts and bar-codes, substandard products and a “received” stamp, said prosecutor Deborah Smithies.

Staff at an Argos store in Middlesbrough were suspicious when Jones tried to return two drills bought from Newcastle hours earlier.

When police were called, they found Roberts in a vehicle in the car park, with an electronic scanner and Argos till rolls. He also had forged product labels with catalogue numbers, the stamp and “a large quantity” of receipts.

The court heard Roberts had been dealt with in Wales for trying to carry out similar frauds at B&Q in January.

The 39-year-old also has a conviction from the 1990's for plotting to blow up holiday homes belonging to English people on Anglesey, in Wales.

He was jailed for 12 years for offences of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life and an act with intent to cause an explosion.

His barrister, Paul Abrahams, said Roberts had done well in the building profession after his release, but embarked on the con when he lost his job.

Andrew Teate, for Jones, 34, said he was also unemployed at the time and had substantial debts, but has since found a job as a ground-worker.

He was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with 200 hours of unpaid work and an electronic tag curfew.

Both men, from north Wales, admitted charges of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation at an earlier crown court hearing.