A STOLEN van racket in the North-East had links to the IRA, a court heard yesterday.

Teesside Crown Court was told the racket in stolen Mercedes and Ford Transit vans, which operated between Great Yarmouth and Scotland, was operated from a house in Bishop Auckland - but the controller was said to have IRA links.

He was not named, but he was described as a traveller from the Manchester area, who had connections with the IRA, said Rod Hunt, prosecuting.

Stolen vans were given new identities and were then advertised in a trade magazine, with the sales handled by Norman Little, 54, from Bishop Auckland.

He told police he was paid £50 to £100 a time by the other man, and met up with buyers as far away as Dunfermline.

Several people described the seller as a man on sticks, matching Little, who suffered from chronic arthritis.

Mr Hunt said Little duped purchasers by using false documents, but police later found that the vans had been professionally "ringed".

One victim, Henry Wilson, bought a van from him in Morpeth, Northumberland, and by chance later saw him at an agricultural dealers in Hexham, in June last year.

Mr Hunt added: "He was keen to get the defendant arrested having been the victim of fraud, and he followed him, took the registration number of his vehicle, noted he had a number on the side of his van, and he gave the details to the police."

Incriminating documents were found at Little's home.

Mr Hunt said: "In interview the defendant said that he delivered vehicles on behalf of a traveller from the Manchester area who had connections with the IRA, and he said that he was given £50 to £100 for delivering each vehicle."

Little had previous convictions for taking and handling stolen vehicles and he was jailed for four years in 1993 for fraud offences against pensioners.

Jonnie Walker, defending, said that Little was a "gofer" who made about £1,500 from the van deals. He was now too ill to continue with crime.

Judge George Moorhouse told him: "I am satisfied that the offences justify a custodial sentence."

Little, of Greenfields Road, was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended for two years with 12 months supervision. He was ordered to pay £500 costs after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen vans between March 2004 and January 2005