A district judge slapped the ban on Norman "Knuckles" Jones after his latest con trip in Earby, where he had claimed he was trying to raise funds for a children's jujitsu club.

Jones, who had netted £7, was last year sent to jail after claiming he was collecting for a blaze victim.

This week the defendant was spared prison for his antics. Pennine Magistrates' Court had been told how Jones, who was taken ill after his last arrest, now had heart problems.

Jones (57), of Earl Street, Colne, had admitted three charges of fraud and asked for four similar offences to be considered.

As well as imposing the collecting ban, District Judge Maurice Greene gave him six months in prison, suspended for two years, with a three-month curfew. He made no order for costs.

The court had earlier been told how Jones went to Earby armed with a collecting box and two identity cards to use in the scam.

Three years ago the defendant, a former leader of the Burnley Suicide Squad, was caught making bogus collections for children's charities in Clitheroe, Nelson and Blackburn. He was sent to custody for just over a year.