A CONVICTED drug dealer who tried to con a neighbour with learning difficulties out of £14,000 during a campaign of intimidation has been jailed.

Bank staff intervened before Lee Perren could make a series of withdrawals and hand over the money to heroin and cocaine trader Amjad Khan, Burnley Crown Court was told.

Khan, was given an 15-month sentence after Judge Sara Dodd told him he had made Mr Perren's life 'miserable' over a series of weeks last June and July.

The court heard the 31-year-old was also jailed for five-and-half years in January, after hundreds of text messages, stored on three mobile phones, linked him to a hard drugs supply ring.

Khan, of Arley Gardens, Burnley who had been due to stand trial, pleaded guilty to putting Mr Perren in fear of violence by harassment and three charges of fraud.

Jailing him, Judge Dodd, said: "He was vulnerable, and has moderate learning difficulties, and I have no doubt he was easy prey to your tactics."

The judge also imposed an indefinite restraining order, prohibiting Khan from contacting Mr Perren in the future.

Prosecutor Simon Blakebrough said Khan was not allowed to leave his home at times, as he was the subject of an electronically monitored curfew, over his drug dealing charges.

The court heard he not only forced Mr Perren, who was aged 45, to visit local shops to buy things but also ordered him to buy cannabis on occasion.

Mr Blakebrough said the victim was awarded £20,000 in compensation last June, after accidentally contracting hepatitis through a blood transfusion.

Khan became aware of this windfall and sent Mr Perren to his branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, after urging him to withdraw £5,000, which he said he would 'look after'.

But bank staff, knowing of Mr Perren's difficulties, became suspicious when they overheard the customer talking to Khan on his mobile phone, while attempting to make the withdrawal.

Mr Blakebrough said the bank's manager, with his agreement, transferred Mr Perren's money into a savings account.

Within days Khan, through further coercion, would unsuccessfully attempt to steal a further £5,000 and £4,000, on separate occasions, the court heard.

Mr Perren's social worker and bank staff raised concerns with police and Khan was arrested, the court was told.

The victim was eventually forced to move home and while he was collecting belongings from his property, and in front of removal men, Khan told Mr Perren he was 'a dead man'.

In a statement to police, Mr Perren said his ordeal had caused him to lose a significant amount of weight and damaged his confidence.

Because of having to relocate out of the Burnley area, he had given up his first and only job, volunteering with Age UK.

Timothy Ashmole, defending, said his client had pleaded guilty, albeit late in the day, which had saved Mr Perren the strain of having to give evidence during a trial.

"It was a rather amateurish attempt to extract money, which ultimately proved unsuccessful," he added.