A BUNGLING conman who was rumbled after claiming to be collecting sponsorship to run in a women-only race was sentenced.

Ivan Botha, 23, of Tempus Court, High Road, South Woodford, pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud, and asked for six other offences to be taken into consideration at a hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

On March 31 this year, Church End Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) got a call from a neighbourhood watch member about a man who had been knocking on doors and claiming he was collecting sponsorship for a race for a cancer charity.

However, suspicions were raised by Botha's claim that he was running the Race for Life, which is the UK's largest women-only fundraising event, and also because there wasn't actually a race scheduled for the date he gave.

The resident made a note of the details before refusing to hand over any money. After some enquiries, which found that he had given a false address, police arrested Botha and his sponsorship forms were recovered.

He was sentenced to 150 hours of unpaid work, a one year supervision order and a £500 fine at the hearing yesterday (Monday, August 2).

The neighbourhood watch member who alerted police to the bogus caller, who did not want to be identified, said: "He let me take his name and address which was surprising.

"I give to some charity collections but I never give at the door.

"He was quite persistent, which made a change from the usual. But it wasn't as if he was going to be forceful or anything."

Sergeant Somerville, of Church End SNT, said: “This is an excellent example of the relationship between the neighbourhood watches and the Church End team.

“With the launch of more 'No Cold Calling' zones, I hope this sends out a message to any would be fraudsters that the residents won’t stand for it.”