A convict tried to defraud the Royal Mint by ordering valuable gold coins under a false identity - from inside prison.

Paul Manning, 22, tried to build up a nest egg during a stretch in Lewes jail by running a scam from a prison phone.

He rang the Royal Mint on April Fool's Day last year and asked to buy 20 gold Sovereigns and 20 half-Sovereigns.

The Mint's coin club, which offers sales by mail order, agreed to sell five of each, worth £1,165 in total, under an easy payment plan.

But inquiries revealed a false name and credit card details had been given and the delivery address was one where Manning used to live.

Inmates' calls were also checked at the prison, where he awaited sentence for three criminal deception offences. He was later jailed for six months.

Ministry of Defence police and voice experts compared recordings to an old taped interview and found they matched.

Manning, who was released this January, yesterday pleaded guilty to attempting to obtain the coins by deception.

He escaped a return to jail after a judge heard he now had a stable home with friends in Ewart Street, Brighton, and a job as a chef.

Ian McLoughlin, defending, said: "He has a substantial history of dishonesty and has spent much of the last three years in prison.

"This offence was committed during one of those sentences.

"Things have changed in his life which give some scope for optimism in the future. There does seem to have been genuine progress made since his release."

Sentencing him to 12 months' probation, Judge Anthony Scott-Gall said: "This offence is aggravated by the fact that it was committed while in custody.

"You were trying to obtain for yourself a little nest egg. You failed."