A FRAUDULENT magistrate who conned transport chiefs out of £5,000 to relieve the monotony of his life in Barnsley has escaped jail - because of prison overcrowding.

Terrance Jolley, 33, spent years abusing a London Underground scheme which refunds passengers whose journeys are delayed by 15 minutes or more.

He used his parents' address in Barnsley to make thousands of fake claims.

Jolley, formerly of Wigfield Avenue, Ward Green, also used the names of his nieces and nephews to swindle cash between 2003 and 2006. He even collected discarded tickets to make further bogus claims.

A probe revealed 2,400 refund requests were sent by Jolley from Barnsley - many of them while he was serving as a JP in West Yorkshire between January 2003 and July 2004, Southwark Crown Court was told.

His con was revealed when he wrote to the managing director of the underground network complaining it was taking too long to settle refunds.

Prosecutor Antony Swift said: "The bulk of the offending was in 2005 although some were made earlier, including during a period he was a serving magistrate in West Yorkshire."

He said it was when he wrote to the managing director that it was realised there had been suspicious activities from his address.

Defence counsel John Kearney said the only reason Jolley carried out the scam was to try to escape his dull life in Barnsley.

He said: "He usually committed these offences in order to be able to come to travel to London.

"It was an attempt to get away from Barnsley where he had a somewhat sheltered upbringing, where he had been bullied at school and where he spent long periods of time with his parents and grandparents."

Jolley was given a nine month suspended sentence and ordered to pay £5,000 in compensation after admitting the fraud.

Judge Steven Robbins told him the offences a custodial sentence was inevitable but due to the 'state of the prisons' he would be spared jail.

He said: "I am prepared to suspend the nine-month prison sentence I am imposing for two years."

Jolley, who suffers from a personality disorder, was also told he would be subject to a community supervision order for two years and would be referred to a mental health team. He now receives incapacity benefits and has moved to a guest house in London to improve his life.