A TEENAGE door-to-door charity trickster who claimed to be collecting cash for a ‘sick’ little brother has been jailed for eight months.

Burnley Crown Court heard how drug taker Wayne Kinvig preyed on the kind– ness of householders who handed over funds after he told them his brother suffered from cerebral palsy.

He told one victim cash was needed to pay for stem cell treatment and spun a tale to another that he had raised £34,000 and needed £5,000 more.

The defendant had knocked on doors, armed with an official-looking clipboard with a sponsor sheet attached. His scam was so sophisticated, he carried around charity details and even information about Gift Aid, where charities can reclaim tax on donations.

He claimed he did not target pensioners, but three of his victims were elderly.

The defendant had been arrested and bailed after his first fraud, but carried on the spree, netting a total of £16.50. His luck finally ran out when he called at the home of a Police Community Support Officer.

Kinvig, now 18 and father of a baby boy, had earlier admitted eight counts of fraud by false repres-entation.

The defendant, of Elm Street, Burnley, was sent to a Young Offenders’ Institution.