A CONMAN who tried to get almost £60,000 out of Burnley Borough Council in a rebates scam is behind bars.

The town's crown court heard how Michael Pullen forged an Inland Revenue letter claiming charitable status for Burnley Miners Social Club.

His application failed and police were alerted after he wrote to the council saying he wanted to appeal its decision. If he had succeeded it would have cost the council £58,264 - with half of this set to go into Pullen's pocket as his "hefty fee."

The 59-year-old grandfather fled to Portugal last year on the very day he should have been sentenced because he feared he would go to jail.

The law finally caught up with him on Tuesday as he was arrested boarding a plane for Thailand at Heathrow Airport.

Yesterday he was sent to prison for four months 14 days, more than a year after he should have turned up to face the music.

Jailing him, Judge Raymond Bennett said the council tax payers of Burnley would think Pullen ought to go to custody and warned the same fate awaited anybody else tempting to try pull the same trick.

He added the defendant had had the "effrontery," to persist in his plan after it was rejected and had made a "very determined," effort to try and get the cash.

Pullen, who lives in Staines, Middlesex, had earlier admitted attempted deception and been committed for sentence by Pennine magistrates.

Martin Hackett, prosecuting, said in November, 2001, the social club received a flier from an M Davies Financial Services in Surrey. M Davies and the defendant were one and the same.

The leaflet said the firm could get the club a rebate from the local authority on its various rates by sending documents to the Inland Revenue to enable it to get charitable status.

Club secretary Alan Kennedy sent off the documents to Pullen but heard nothing more. Documents were later faxed to Burnley Council by the defendant's firm but a team leader in the taxation department was not satisfied and started inquiries. She was not happy with a letter from the Inland Revenue and thought the social club would not get charitable status because its accounts showed the payment of corporation tax.

The leader contacted the Inland Revenue at Bootle and an employee was shown a letter purported to be by him which stated the club would be eligible for charitable status. The letter had been forged.

Mr Hackett said Pullen was told the social club would not be entitled to charitable status but Burnley Council later received a letter from his company saying it wanted to appeal.

Police were contacted, went to the address given for the firm and the defendant was arrested. When he was questioned, Pullen claimed M Davies was a man he had met in Australia and was a real person.

He said his involvement was just to post the fliers and fraudulent letter. Officers searched the defendant's house, found receipts in the name of M Davies and he was later caught on video buying petrol and signing in that name. Pullen then exercised his right to stay silent. He had no previous convictions.

David Pickup, defending, said Pullen had hit on the idea to legitimately exploit the similarity between friendly societies and charitable status. The business was not set up as a complete scam, but he went too far. Pullen stood to gain 50 per cent of the £58,000 Burnley Miners Club would have saved.

He had done it successfully for two friendly societies but they had not paid him, so he got nothing out ot it from anybody.

Pullen had gone to Portugal and Spain after leaving the country and came back two weeks ago because his niece was marrying and he had become a grandfather. He was on his way to Australia, via Thailand, when he was arrested.

His barrister said it was silly and wrong to run away but he did. "The defendant did it because he was expecting a custodial sentence. He was concerned on health and age grounds of the effects of going to prison."