A Spare Room fraudster who conned south Londoners out of more than £10,000 has finally been caught and jailed.

James Bennett, 32, of no fixed abode, nicked cash from prospective tenants he had no right to let.

He made several false Spareroom.com listing between late 2015 and December 2016 for four properties in Brixton, Walworth, Elephant and Castle, and Tooting.

Bennett did not attempt to hide his identity and gave tenancy agreements to each victim, providing copies of his passport and other documents, and obtained more than £10,000 from the victims as a result from their deposits.

One person was forced to spend Christmas in a hostel while another was left homeless after prospective tenants found out they were defrauded once arriving to their supposed new address on moving in day.

Police searched for Bennett after he was charged with 17 counts of fraud on December 11 last year at Inner London Crown Court and later sentenced to six years’ imprisonment two days later for the offences, before he was caught on January 26.

The 32-year-old pleaded not guilty at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court despite full admissions in interviews after being charged with 17 offences.