A MAN who bought a £16,000 car on finance passed it on to a friend who ran a car hire business when he couldn’t make the payments.

Blackburn magistrates heard Jabar Hussain Sharif, 35, did not make a single repayment on the Toyota Avensis which was eventually recovered 12 months after it was sold.

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Sharif, of Blackburn Road, Great Harwood, admitted theft of a car belonging to Toyota Finance and was ordered to pay £500 compensation.

Andy Robinson, prosecuting, said Sharif had agreed to pay back £272 a month on the car but the company said they did not receive a single payment.

“They couldn’t find the address he had given and the shop where he had worked said he wasn’t employed there any more,” said Mr Robinson. “It turned out that in an attempt to make the payments on the car he had sub-let it to a friend who had a car hire company.”

Paul Huxley, defending, said: “He paid £500 deposit and agreed to make monthly payments. At the time he was working as a chef at a pizza takeaway, but he was made redundant. The best way he could see out of the situation was to lend the car to his friend who had a car hire business.”