A WOMAN whose second-hand shop in a North-East coastal town was the front for an international credit card fraud conspiracy, was jailed for 18 months yesterday.

Sonia Latchford, 33, ran the shop Finders Keepers, in Redcar, east Cleveland, from which the gang of fraudsters claimed £38,000 for sales of non-existent antiques.

The mastermind behind the racket, 32-year-old Andrew O'Doula, was among those jailed yesterday.

O'Doula, of Richmond Place, Plumstead, London - who used five aliases - set up bogus companies to make applications for credit cards which were also used in frauds in America, Algeria and France. The fraud was believed to have involved a total of £500,000.

He was jailed for four years after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud between January 1996 and April last year.

Latchford, formerly of West Dyke Road, Redcar, was jailed for 18 months after she admitted conspiracy. Also admitting conspiracy, Gabriel Tolefe, 29, of Hardwick, Manchester, was jailed for three years, Kayode Dunnin, 32, of Harold Priestnall, of Newton Heath, Manchester, was jailed for 21 months, and George Dixon, 39, also of Hardwick, Manchester, jailed for 12 months.

Four men pleaded guilty to obtaining by deception. Darrell Lindsey, 42, of Longnight, Manchester, was given 240 hours community punishment, Rilwan Akinyemi, 36, of Tottenham, London, 140 hours, Anthoney Okere, 40, of Longnight, 12 months conditional discharge with £100 costs, and Audel Denidni, 41, of Denton, Manchester, two years conditional discharge with £100 costs.