A CONVICTED thief who lied on an application form to land a headteacher's post has had the case against him thrown out of court.

But George Bowery, 47, was fined £400 after he admitted buying a forged MOT document from a school caretaker for his policewoman step-daughter.

Yesterday, he was cleared of two charges of obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception, after he failed to declare two previous convictions for dishonesty when he applied for jobs as deputy head of Kingsmeadow Comprehensive School, Gateshead, in 1996, and for the post of headmaster in 1999.

His deception came to light last year after he was arrested for supplying a forged MOT certificate to his step-daughter, a police officer at Washington.

Judge David Hatton ordered not guilty verdicts to be delivered against the 47-year-old.

Patrick Cosgrove QC said that although Bowery had not declared his previous convictions, his position was not gained by deception because he was still fit to do the job.

Governors said they would not have automatically rejected Bowery had they known about the convictions.

Judge Hatton told the jury that it was impossible to know whether he would have got the job without making the false representation.

Bowery was convicted of an act of dishonesty at Sunderland Magistrates Court in 1974 and was conditionally discharged for 12 months.

In 1986, he was convicted of theft at Washington Magistrates Court and fined £50.

Bowery, of Park Place West, Sunderland, was fined £400 yesterday, for supplying his step-daughter with a forged MOT certificate for her E-reg Nissan.

Bowery later admitted he had paid £50 for the forgery from the school caretaker and sold it on to her for £15.

Bowery pleaded guilty to making a false instrument with intention to deceive.