CONMAN Michael Keen was jailed for five and a half months when he appeared before Blackburn magistrates on theft and deception charges.
The court heard that Keen approached people and offered them 200 cigarettes for £10 and then disappeared with the money.
Keen, 26, of the Accrington bail hostel, pleaded guilty to four charges relating to obtaining money by deception, two offences of shoplifting and asked for six offences to be taken into consideration.
The court heard that Keen was in breach of a suspended sentence imposed by stipendiary magistrate Jonathon Finestein in January.
Passing sentence again Mr Finestein said he had given Keen a chance and he had blown it. "If you are not prepared to make an effort there is not much I can do," said Mr Finestein. "I regard this as a lenient sentence."
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