A man from St Ives conned his friend out of more than £18,000.

Terry Beckwith, 36, had approached his former colleague with a business proposal in April 2019.

His plan was to buy American muscle cars, selling them for a profit in the UK.

His friend agreed to this proposal, and transferred Mr Beckwith £18,070 to go towards the cars.

After paying the money, the cars did not appear, leading to the victim, from Haverhill, in Suffolk, challenging Mr Beckwith.

According to Cambridgeshire Police, Mr Beckwith's bank statements show his victim's money arriving, but it had never been used to buy cars.

The 36-year-old promised him that he would pay the money back with some winnings from gambling, however, this did not appear either.

Following an investigation by the police, it was revealed that Mr Beckwith had won a large sum of money from gambling, but had gambled again and lost the lot.

Beckwith gave a 'no comment' interview to Cambridgeshire Police, prior to pleading guilty to fraud by false representation.

At Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday (April 21), he was ordered to pay the money back and handed a 10-month sentence, suspended by 18 months.