A FRAUDSTER conned members of the public into giving him cash on the same day that he was sentenced for a spate of similar offending, a court has heard.

Peter Spiteri, of Moore Avenue in Bournemouth, was handed an 18-month community order and a two-year criminal behaviour order at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court on Friday, June 5 after he admitted 12 counts of fraud by false representation.

A further 10 fraud crimes were also taken into consideration by the court.

And on Monday morning at Bournemouth Crown Court, Spiteri admitted a further seven counts of fraud - several of which took place on June 5, it was heard.

The 31-year-old, who is currently in custody, also admitted five breaches of his Criminal Behaviour Order.

Judge Brian Forster QC adjourned the sentence after Nick Robinson, mitigating for Spiteri, asked for the hearing to take place next month.

The defendant last appeared at the court on August 11, and a trial was listed after he admitted two counts of fraud but denied all other charges.

Last week, Spiteri instructed his solicitors that he would plead guilty to all of the charges against him instead.

During his last brush with the criminal justice system, magistrates heard that Spiteri had targeted people in Poole and Bournemouth by telling them his car had broken down and he needed funds to get back to his hometown.

He pretended to be from towns including Exeter, Portsmouth, Leicester, Dawlish and Plymouth to scam cash from passers by as they walked in locations such as Bournemouth's Lower Gardens, Ringwood Road, the town's branch of Asda, Kinson Road, Sainsbury's in Alder Road, Poole, Turbary Retail Park and Total petrol station in Castle Lane.

A prosecutor told of how Spiteri changed his appearance and used various stories to con his victims, but was identified by witnesses before being charged by police with numerous fraud offences.

The result came after a year-long investigation by Dorset Police involving over 50 reported crimes. The investigating officer worked in collaboration with Poole and Bournemouth councils.