A gardener involved in an attempted £14,400 scam against a pensioner was jailed today.

Oxford Crown Court heard Richard Murphy, 25, above, of Wylie Close, Headington, tried to cash an invalid cheque from 78-year-old Ernest Shepherd after doing three days work on his garden in Waterperry.

Murphy admitted fraud but said one of his colleagues had told him to pay in the cheque, which later bounced, and he had not realised it was invalid.

Jailing him for 10 months, Judge Patrick Eccles said: "This was a very mean offence committed against an elderly victim. You were aware that Mr Shepherd was being defrauded and failed to take responsibility."