A former agent with Reeds Rains has been jailed after conning overseas student into paying deposits for accommodation that he knew he could not let to them.

Barinder Uppal, who worked for the company in Coventry, cheated 12 students and also a man wanting to buy a property.

Uppal, 29, who turned up for viewings in a white Bentley, placed adverts online offering student accommodation.

He would arrange viewings before taking deposits from the students, some of whom were offered the same accommodation.

Prosecuting, Paul Dhami said: “All bar one were students who had come to study in the UK, so English was their second language and therefore there was a degree of vulnerability because he appeared to be bona fide.

“Some described him arriving in a white Bentley, giving the impression of being a successful businessman.”

Uppal, who had been given a conditional discharge for a fraud in 2014, made a total of £13,560 from his scam.

After complaints to the police Uppal, who lost his job as a result, said he had carried out the frauds to fund a gambling habit.

The court heard that Uppal had worked for Reeds Rains for just six months, and that he is now going to Gamblers Anonymous.

Judge Sylvia de Bertodano jailed him for a year, after rejecting a defence argument that if he was given a suspended sentence, he could pay back the stolen money with the help of his family.

The judge said: “I don’t see why your family should bail you out – and this is not the sort of offence you can buy your way out of. There must be a custodial sentence that will be immediate.

“The message must go out that someone who uses their position to defraud vulnerable people in this way must got to custody.”

There will be a Proceeds of Crime hearing, the local paper reports