Richard Beard, 24, was "like a child at Christmas" after discovering the scam, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

The court heard that although evidence suggested he had spent about �1,500, it could have been up to �5,000.

On Friday, Beard admitted conspiracy to obtain property by deception and was ordered to do 180 hours community punishment and pay �500 compensation.

At an earlier hearing, Judge Jamie Tabor QC ruled that the method Beard and his accomplice, Alan McNeil, 28, used should remain secret to stop others.

McNeil was sentenced to a two-year community rehabilitation order at a hearing in December last year. Beard's case was adjourned until 1 July.

'Difficult background'

"Once you discovered how to obtain this money you were like a child at Christmas and you went on and on obtaining various goods, some of which I suspect were of very little use to you," Judge Tabor said.

Anjali Gohil, mitigating, said Beard had a difficult background and had turned to computers as his life.

After learning that Beard was unemployed, the judge added: "If he is clever enough to perpetrate this fraud, he is clever enough to get a job."

He warned Beard not to commit any more computer crimes.