A 12-month suspended jail sentence has been given to former car sales manager Adrian Massey who admitted defrauding car dealer group TG Holdcroft.

While working at Holdcroft Nissan in Stoke-on-Trent Massey set up a company branded Pick-Ups For Less, to which almost £10,000 commission was paid for six LCV sales in March 2011, Stoke crown court was told.

Massey, from Burslem, would claim that a customer had been referred to Holdcroft Nissan from Pick-Ups For Less. His employee was not aware Massey was its sole director.

The court heard that in mitigation Massey had endured recent catastrophes including his family home being deemed unsafe and his wife suffering health problems, reports the Stoke Sentinel.