A man who avoided jail for swindling more than £11,000 from his girlfriend's disabled grandmother is today behind bars for skipping probation appointments.

Adam George was given 20 weeks in prison for violating conditions of the suspended sentence he received for fraud by false representation last year.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to failing to report to the probation service, as required under the conditions of a suspended prison sentence, on February 3.

George, of Burnham Way, Lowestoft, appeared in front of magistrates in Ipswich, via a video link from Great Yarmouth police investigation centre, following his arrest on Wednesday.

He had been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for a year, and 200 hours of unpaid work at court in Basildon on October 12, 2017.

The probation service said George had received a full induction on October 19 and confirmed he understood the expectations on him to comply with the order.

But he was then handed five days of rehabilitation activity requirement for breaching the conditions of his sentence in January.

Prosecutor Tess Mann said George had also been ordered to repay the £11,158 he used to buy drugs after defrauding his girlfriend's grandmother – a woman with multiple sclerosis.

Solicitor Mark Holt said his client first breached probation conditions due to employment as a shift worker at Lowestoft's Birds Eye factory.

'It was very difficult, if not impossible, to provide documentation legitimising his absence from unpaid work,' he added.

'He would receive instruction to report to work at very short notice, which was impossible to communicate to the probation service. Even when he did, it was only based on his say so.'

Mr Holt said George had been working for Saxon Packaging, in Lowestoft, to pay back the money he owed his victim.

'It's the only way the money can be paid back within a reasonable amount of time,' he added.

'If he goes to jail and loses that job, the money will be paid back at a rate of about £10 a fortnight.'

Magistrates jailed George for 20 weeks and told him he had been warned what would happen if he failed to keep to the requirements of his suspended sentence.