A FACEBOOK Marketplace fraudster has been jailed.

Aaron Carter and others were involved in a plot that fleeced members of the public out of items totalling at least £2,500.

Carter, 22, formerly of Steadings Way, Keighley, but then remanded into HMP Leeds, had committed a house burglary on licence when he took part in the frauds, prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told Bradford Crown Court.

He pleaded guilty to breaking into a house in Keighley with an accomplice and stealing a safe, cash, keys and Rolex watch on August 2 last year.

He also admitted conspiracy to commit fraud between December 16 and February 25.

Mr Sharp said Carter was on licence when he committed the burglary after serving a sentence in a young offender institution for an earlier offence of housebreaking.

The victim of the second burglary was spending a night away with his family when Carter and another male got into his house. They stole a safe containing £2,000 in cash, a Rolex watch, keys and £650 in an envelope.

Carter was identified by police from CCTV footage of him running away.

He was arrested on September 12, made no comment when questioned and was released under investigation.

It was then that he took part in a series of five frauds using Facebook Marketplace to scam members of the public advertising on the social media platform.

Mr Sharp said it was "a planned and targeted operation" in which Carter created a fake profile and posed as a buyer to take items without payment.

In all, the scam totalled at least £2,500 of property. Carter was the only culprit identified.

None of the property from the burglary or frauds was recovered.

Carter had previous convictions for fraud, house burglary and dangerous driving and had breached an earlier suspended sentence order.

In mitigation, Nick Leadbeater said Carter had been suffering with depression and anxiety.

He had been detained in an adult prison on remand and had found that very difficult.

Carter read out a letter to the judge stating that he was remorseful. He wanted a chance to make things right for his two young sons.

He had a job driving plant machinery and would obey any orders of the court, he said.

Recorder Alistair MacDonald KC said Carter had shown no willingness to comply with previous court orders and he had no confidence that he would do so now.

He was jailed for 15 months for burglary and 12 months for fraud to run consecutively, making a total of 27 months' imprisonment.