AN ANTI-FUR campaigner who conned shoppers out of £8,000 to fund his rock band has been jailed for 15 months.

Lee Devenport, from Watling Street, Bury, was arrested in Hanley on July 10, 2007 after setting up a stall outside the Potteries Shopping Centre without a permit.

He was protesting against the use of bearskin hats by the Queen's Guards and falsely claimed to be working with legitimate animal rights organisations.

The 41-year-old musician invited people to sign a petition and asked for cash – giving a homemade newsletter in return – receiving a total of £21.65 before his arrest.

At his home, officers found £3,195 in cash and discovered Devenport had taken around £8,700 by making up to five collections a week in North-west England between October 2006 and July 2007. Petitions he gathered had not been sent to Parliament.

Devenport used the money to promote his band Alternative Influence.

Following a seven-day trial at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court in September, Devenport was convicted of seven counts of fraud and two money laundering offences.

During sentencing at Stafford Crown Court yesterday, Judge John Rubury told Devenport: "This is not a case like others where someone has sought to have a high lifestyle by fraudulent means. But nonetheless people were deceived to part with their money and that conduct is criminal and serious."