A man who posed as a barrister at a series of court hearings after buying his robes and wig on eBay was jailed for two years yesterday.

During his “very aggressive” appearances on behalf of clients in criminal and civil courts, Ian Clegg pretended to be a qualified barrister who had set up his own law chambers and was friendly with leading judges.

Clegg, 32, said he charged £75 an hour for his expertise. Would-be clients were impressed when he boasted of having “enough qualifications to run rings around” their opponents.

In reality, he was a failed law student and a convicted fraudster. His legal training consisted of one year of a law degree at Teesside University.

Durham Crown Court was told that Clegg befriended a parish priest, Father Ian Graham, of St Hilda of Whitby, Grangetown, who recommended his services to parishioners.

Three people commissioned him to work on civil cases and he also took on two motoring offences, appearing several times at a magistrates’ court and a county court. However, when he represented clients in front of magistrates in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, the prosecutor and court officials became suspicious because he did not seem to know court procedure.

When they questioned him, he said that he had completed his barrister training and was setting up a new chambers in Middlesbrough called Yellow Apple. Checks established this was a fiction and Clegg was reported to the police. Interviewed, he admitted what he had done and apologised for “all the upset and aggravation”.

David Brooke, for the prosecution, said that although Clegg had betrayed the trust of members of the public, he had not made much money from his deception. The court heard that he had previous convictions for fraud, including a suspended 12-month prison sentence for running up hotel bills of £7,000 and charging them to a national pub chain.

Clegg, from Middlesbrough, admitted two specimen charges of impersonating a barrister and three counts of fraudulently claiming to be a qualified barrister who could represent clients before a county court.

Paul Green, for the defence, said that Clegg was a man who “has had difficulties throughout his life”. A psychiatric report had concluded that he needed “long-term psychological work”. Passing sentence, Judge Esmond Faulks said that Clegg was a compulsive liar who “wanted to appear more important than you are. That’s your primary motive, rather than trying to feather your own nest.”

Times Recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• Why Ann Widdecombe has got it wrong
• Alas, it’s the end of the road for petrolheads