Convicted Shropshire conman David Oakley who lied to obtain mortgages for over £360,000 has been ordered to pay back just £1.

During a brief hearing yesterday, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that 63-year-old Oakley had “not got the means” to meet a full confiscation order under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

As a result, Judge Martin Walsh made a nominal order against Oakley in the sum of £1 and he gave him 28 days to pay the money or face a further seven days in prison.

Mr William Rickaby, prosecuting, said it had been calculated that Oakley’s total benefit from his criminality amounted to £363,405. He said a major probe into Oakley’s financial affairs by West Mercia police in the UK and in Spain revealed he had no means to repay any of the money.

In April Oakley, formerly of Salters Lane, Shrewsbury, was jailed for three-and-a-half years after he admitted two charges of conspiring to obtain mortgages and one charge of deception between 2002 and 2004. He was already serving a three year and nine month sentence imposed in September 2008 for the fraudulent running of three travel businesses and started to serve the sentence in May last year after being extradited from France.

Judge Nicholas Webb described Oakley as a practised fraudster who was prepared to deceive people and organisations into parting with large sums of money. He ruled that the three-and-half-year sentence should begin immediately and not run concurrently to the sentence already being served by Oakley.

The court heard that Oakley, and his wife Amanda, 51, had conspired to make false claims about her employment to secure a mortgage with Abbey National for £158,975.

The second mortgage for £191,930, used to repay the first loan, was secured by Oakley making other false claims about his wife’s employment.

Last month David Oakley lodged an appeal against the sentence imposed by Judge Webb which will be heard at the High Court in London later this year.