A MAN who plundered thousands of pounds from the bank accounts of his lover's dying husband has been ordered to pay back just £1.

Peter Arnold stole more than £18,000 from Eric Ferguson after being hired to care for the former engineer when he was suffering from a brain tumour.

But a court heard yesterday that Arnold, who was jailed in July for the deception, now had no money and could only pay a nominal amount as part of a Proceeds of Crime Act confiscation case.

A judge heard how the 44-year-old fleeced his victim out of £18,005, but had no realisable assets after spending the money on three motorbikes, a necklace for his wife, clothes and pub meals.

An earlier hearing was told that Arnold also carried out a £2,000 balance transfer towards the deposit for a BMW car after stealing Mr Ferguson's credit card and personal details.

Mr Ferguson's wife, Catherine, who began an affair with Arnold after he was employed to work as a carer, cashed five cheques worth a total of £5,900 in her husband's name.

Yesterday, the 42-year-old, who was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years in the summer, was ordered to pay back the full amount within a year to the credit card company or face six months in jail.

Arnold, of Stainmore Close, Norton, near Stockton, pleaded guilty to ten counts of forgery between August and September 2004 and asked for a further 37 similar offences to be taken into account.

Catherine Ferguson, of Quenby Road, in nearby Billingham, admitted seven offences of forgery between December 11 and 31, 2004, and a further charge of false accounting.

She was eight months' pregnant by Arnold when sentenced at Teesside Crown Court in July and gave birth to the baby a month later.

It was claimed she had not benefited from Arnold's spending, but accepted she changed the address to which her late husband's bills and statements should be sent to prevent him discovering the deceit.

Father-of-two Mr Ferguson, a former British Steel engineer, who died aged 52 last February, had lived in Billingham with his wife. At the time of the offences, the Fergusons were in the process of getting divorced.

Mr Ferguson was left severely disabled as a result of an operation to treat a tumour.

He was unable to walk unaided and had severely restricted speech.

The earlier court hearing was told that Arnold lied about past convictions for dishonesty when he applied for the job as Mr Ferguson's full-time carer in November 2003.

Arnold, whose affair with Ferguson was said to have started in June 2004, when his marriage was collapsing, was jailed for two years and three months.

Judge Fox ruled the case could be re-opened and the full £18,005 recovered if Arnold came into money after his release from prison.

Last night, Mr Ferguson's sister-in-law, Carol, who uncovered the pair's deception, said the family had been warned by police that Arnold might have to repay only £1.

She said: "It has not come as a surprise because he has got no money, but it still sticks in the craw.

"But the fact that the judge has made the order for £1 means the door is left open and, if Arnold ever gets anything during the rest of his life, he will have to repay the rest."

Mrs Ferguson, from Peterlee, east Durham, described her brother-in-law as a loving, generous and trusting man, and said: "They took his money, destroyed his character and broke his heart."