A TICKET tout who handed over fake cash in a supermarket promptly ate a wad of counterfeit £20 notes when challenged by staff, a court was told.

Burnley Crown Court heard how gambling addict Ian Staines, 41, stuffed the money in his mouth and managed to swallow most of it, apart from half a note pulled out by employee Dwayne Wilson, at the Great Harwood Tesco.

The hearing was told Staines was a prolific football match ticket tout. He had been jailed for flouting football banning orders.

The defendant, now living in the West Midlands, was spared prison at his latest court appear-ance, after admitting tendering a counterfeit note and having counterfeit notes in his possession.

Staines was sentenced to 12 weeks in jail, suspended for a year, with six months’ supervision, and a 12-week curfew between 9pm and 6am.

Roger Baldwin, prosecuting, said last August, the defendant bought a £1.45 hot chocolate and handed over a £20 note.

Mr Wilson was suspicious about the note and put it at the back of the £20 notes to check it.

A second man then gave him a £20 note for a soft drink and he was again suspicious, and went to get a second opinion on its validity.

When Mr Wilson returned, Staines had walked off into the store and was followed by a security guard. He resisted violently when he tried to escort Staines to the office.

Mr Wilson helped take the defendant to the office and got him to repay the £18.55 change. He saw the defendant putting notes down the back of his trousers.

Mr Baldwin said: “The defendant pulled four or five notes out, put them in his mouth and tried to eat it.

“He was successful in ing-esting some of the notes. Mr Wilson grabbed at them to pull them out of his mouth and was left with half a note.”

Mr Baldwin said when questioned, the defendant, who said he bought and sold tickets for a living, denied trying to eat the money, claimed he had put chewing gum in his mouth and alleged he didn’t know the money in his back pocket was counterfeit.

The hearing was told he then owned up on the basis he was concerned about some of the notes, and decided to try and spend them.

Clare Thomas, for Staines, said he had a gambling problem and said: “It appears that underpinning all his offending is a lack of thinking skills.”

Judge Beverley Lunt told Staines: “It has to be marked by a sentence of imprisonment because putting counterfeit notes through the system is very, very serious indeed.”