TWO brothers escaped immediate prison sentences, “by a whisker”, after opening a string of fraudulent bank accounts using other people’s names and identities.

But, both John Robert and Peter James Breward are having to literally pay for their crimes, after a judge imposed varying financial orders to compensate the banks in question, which withstood the losses.

Durham Crown Court heard that the brothers both have previous convictions for dishonesty, before the latest fraud offences were committed in recent years.

Thirty-eight-year-old Peter Breward, of Coronation Avenue, Hartlepool, was before the court for six counts of fraud by false representation, and one for transferring criminal property, offences for which he illegally obtained more than £14,000.

The court heard he successfully managed to draw the money on five of the six false accounts, and then transferred the entire sum to a further account.

His 40-year-old brother, of Maureen Avenue, Hartlepool, admitted three offences of fraud by false representation, plus single counts of possessing articles for the purposes of fraud and transferring criminal property.

Chris Baker, prosecuting, said the amounts on which he drew from the fraudulently opened accounts amounted to £4,932.

Arabella MacDonald, representing Peter Breward, told the court that the ex-jockey turned to financial crime to help fund an addiction to drugs prescribed to relieve chronic pain arising from a knee injury suffered in a fall which ended his career in the saddle, in 2000.

Miss MacDonald said at its peak he was taking five times more than the amount of the opiate drug prescribed, and if he attempted to stop, he suffered seizures.

She said he sold all his furnishings to fund his addiction and when the money ran out, “he turned to fraud” to pay for the extra drugs.

“All he was thinking about was getting his next batch of drugs.”

But she said working with a community addiction team he has managed to gradually reduce his intake of the drug back to within prescribed limits and should soon be off them altogether.

Miss MacDonald added that he has a job offer to return to the racing industry as a stable assistant at an established yard.

Judge Christopher Prince agreed to defer sentence for six months on the basis that Breward saves £2,000 from his earnings and remains drug free.

In the interim period he must attend monthly review hearings before the judge.

If Breward complies with the terms of the deferment, he will receive a suspended prison sentence, but Judge Prince warned him that if he fails, he will be jailed for a year.

The deferred sentencing hearing will be on May 5.

John Breward was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, during which he must complete 100-hours’ unpaid work.

His barrister, Paul Abrahams, said Breward could pay off the full £4,932 he fraudulently took from the bank, at the rate of £150 per month.

Judge Prince agreed and ordered the first instalment to be paid by December 1.