A GAMBLING drug addict earned cash by selling on stolen high-performance cars worth more than £60,000, a court heard.

Ihklaq Rehman, 24, was working for Blackburn firm Rapid Accident Management as a claims handler when he took part in the sophisticated scam. He told police he got £200 for each car.

Burnley Crown Court heard three of the four cars an Audi A3, an Audi TT, a Lexus 1S200 and Volkswagen Golf, were stolen from their owners after they were "bought" through North West Autotraders.

Dud bankers' drafts were handed over for the expensive vehicles and when sellers rang a phone number they were given they were assured the transaction was in order. A fourth car was taken in a burglary and all four cars were acquired in an area stretching from Liverpool to Preston.

The defendant, of St James Road, Blackburn, admitted four counts of handling stolen goods.

He was jailed for 14 months, after being committed for sentence by Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale magistrates.

John Beggs, prosecuting, told the court Rehman sold the four cars, advertising them in auto magazines.

Houses were rented in Burnley, Blackburn and Preston and paid for in cash so the people using the properties could not be traced.

Buyers thought the set-ups were legitimate and were promised the vehicles' documents later.

Mr Beggs said the defendant's fingerprints came back to either the service books or the receipts handed over at the time of sale.