A FRAUDSTER who pocketed donations he had collected for an injured pilot’s family has been jailed for 21 months.

Kevin Crellin, 52, pictured, took £550 from two men for the family and another £2,400 from a woman for flying lessons he claimed to be offering.

Oxford Crown Court heard yesterday that Crellin is suffering from a heart condition which means he could die at any moment, but Judge Patrick Eccles said the public interest required him to go to prison. The court heard how Crellin had pretended to collect money for the wife of the pilot who had suffered severe burns in a serious flying accident.

He took the cash between February and April 2012 and the money for flying lessons between May and July 2012.

Judge Eccles accused Crellin of “cynical opportunism.” He said: “You have up to the date of this offence demonstrated yourself to be a confidence trickster.”

He continued: “It may be said you are something of a fantasist and make yourself out to be somebody important in the world of aviation when you are not.”

Colin McCarraher, defending, said Crellin had recently been diagnosed with a life-threatening heart condition which has changed his views on life and criminal activity.

But Judge Eccles said: “I don’t have any evidence that being in prison will make a substantial difference to the position you are in.”

He sentenced Crellin, of Banbury Road, Sibford Gower, to 12 months' prison for three counts of fraud, to run concurrently, and nine months for breaching an earlier court order for fraudoffences, to run consecutively.