A STAMP dealer whose "breathtaking dishonesty" netted him nearly £30,000 has been ordered to pay back just 1p at a confiscation hearing.

Philip Clarke was bankrupt at the time he ripped off a string of pensioners, making it impossible for a Crown Court judge to order the proceeds of his crimes be confiscated.

Instead Judge John Beashel was forced to make a nominal order of 1p.

Clarke, 60, of North Road, Boscombe, was jailed for 21 months in March after admitting more than 20 offences.

The court was told he either failed to pay people for their stamp collections or offered them just a fraction of their true worth.

Calculations carried out after the court case revealed a benefit figure of £29,689 but the hearing in March was told around £17,000 has been repaid.

One of Clarke's victims was a man in his 90s who lived in a nursing home and a Wareham woman was offered just £5,000 after Clarke sold her stamp collection, worth £20,000.

A dealer from Doncaster was cheated out of more than £12,000 and Winton Salvation Army was cheated over £175 worth of stamps donated to fund a mission to the Ukraine.

The court was also told Clarke has numerous previous convictions for dishonesty, including trading as a bankrupt.

At the time, Judge Beashel said: "There's plain evidence of cynical and totally dishonest behaviour."

At Monday's hearing, the judge said: "Because the defendant is an undischarged bankrupt I am going to make a nominal order of 1p."

The court was told that if Clarke comes into any money in the future, there will be further confiscation proceedings.