THE Blackpool-based leader of a children's charity scam has been given the maximum fine possible after appearing before magistrates.

Patrick Jarrett was taken to court in Manchester after an undercover sting by the city's council.

Jarrett, 40, and his gang, told shoppers that proceeds from their tiny magazine of poems, The Smiler, would go to buy wheelchairs for children.

But there was absolutely no evidence that this was true.

Jarrett and his gang were instead running a highly organised and lucrative business selling the £2 publication to shoppers in various towns, including Blackpool.

Jarrett did not attend the hearing before Manchester Magistrates and was found guilty in his absence of collecting money without a licence.

He was fined a total of £400 and ordered to pay £200 in costs.

The court heard that a female council volunteer had twice trapped Jarrett while working undercover.

The first time, he told her the money was 'going to charity.' On a second occasion, he approached her, calling her 'gorgeous' and a 'proper babe' before telling her that the money from the leaflet would go to buy 'electric wheelchairs for children.'

Jarrett's solicitor had previously issued a statement saying his client openly runs a business for profit and has used some of those profits to buy seven electric wheelchairs for 'worthy causes.'

No further details were forthcoming. He claimed Jarrett 'does not collect for, or purport to collect for, a charitable purpose.'

The high pressure sales tactics used in Manchester saw the gang bring in up to £1,000 a day, but, after they were exposed in a local newspaper, they disappeared.

But Jarrett's gang was still in operation last week -- this time targeting shoppers in the city of Sheffield.