A motorist who bought a £14,000 Audi in the Black Country by forging a pay slip has avoided an immediate jail sentence.

Mark Renenhan secured the car after using a wage slip downloaded from the internet to prove he could afford the motor on finance.

The 25-year-old admitted an offence of fraud by false representation.

He was given a three-month prison sentence at Walsall Magistrates Court yesterday .

It was suspended for a year and Renenhan was ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work and pay the £85 court costs.

He had pleaded guilty to the charge at a hearing last week and the case was adjourned ahead of a pre-sentence report not ruling out custody.

The court was told he had secured a loan of £14,266 from a finance company in October, 2007, for the car – but never a paid a penny towards it.

The  money for the Audi A4 came from Future Car Finance, based in Bloxwich Road, Walsall and an investigation was launched after it was involved in a crash in 2008.

Mr Sarbjit Lalli, defending, said Renenhan, of Overton Grove, Acocks Green, Birmingham, was a church volunteer and had been working legitimately earning around £1,500 a month.