A rogue landlord has been jailed after he scammed more than £10,000 from tenants for fake properties before going on the run.

James Bennett, 32, listed rooms on Spareroom for rent, taking £725 deposits from desperate househunters and giving them tenancy agreements.

But the conman had no permission to rent the rooms in Brixton, Elephant and Castle and Tooting, south London, and was in the process of being evicted.

One of his victims was even forced to spend Christmas in a hostel.

Bennett was tried and sentenced to six years behind bars in his absence at Inner London Crown Court in December for 17 counts of fraud.

Police finally caught up with him on January 26 and handed him an extra month in jail for failing to appear at court.

He committed the offences between late 2015 and December 2016, obtaining more than £10,000.

Bennett made no attempt to hide his identity, handing his victims copies of his passport and other documents to convince them he was genuine.

Many of the victims only found they had been defrauded when they turned up on the agreed day to move in, leaving several homeless.

He was arrested in November 2016 and denied the offences, but admitted them in May 2017 when police discovered more evidence.

Bennett has a long history of offending, including previous convictions for fraud offences and perverting the course of justice.