Accused of selling car in a sales yard which wasn't his

Alwyn Cahoon, 53, also took £600 from a girlfriend to replace her oil tank before disappearing, prosecutors claimed.

Crown lawyer James Johnston said: “He seems to be an individual who, colloquially speaking, has a brass neck for passing himself off and committing these offences.”

Cahoon, of Oak Grove in Banbridge, was granted bail on strict conditions including a curfew and electronic monitoring.

He is facing charges of fraud by false representation and forging or altering an MOT disc related to three alleged sets of offences between October 2013 and October 2015.

One incident involved the alleged £1,100 sale of a Ford Transit van which was discovered to have a fake vehicle registration certificate, the court was told.

Mr Johnston claimed Cahoon then carried out a bogus deal for a car that didn’t belong to him in August 14.

“He brought himself onto a sales yard whilst a willing purchaser was in attendance and made the purchaser believe he had authority to sell the car,” the barrister contended.

Arrangements were said to have been made to meet and exchange cash the following day.

According to the prosecution Cahoon also told a woman with whom he was in a casual relationship that her oil tank was faulty and needed replaced.

She allegedly gave him £600 after being informed he could do the job for that amount.

But police were called in amid claims he repeatedly cancelled arrangements to carry out the work.

“He said he would give the money back to her, then disappeared for six months,” Mr Johnson claimed.

Charges have only been brought against Cahoon now because of difficulties in locating him, he added.

Asked where the accused has been since 2013, defence counsel Gavyn Cairns said he had spent a period living in the north west.

Granting bail for Cahoon to stay at an address in Kilrea, Mr Justice O’Hara also ordered him to report to police three times a week.

The judge stressed that investigating detectives and prosecutors must be alerted immediately if he disappears again.