A MAN who created a fictitious Ebay auction in order to rob a man of £7,000 in cash has been jailed for three years.

Iade Justo, 20, of Stagshaw Drive, Peterborough, placed an advert for an 08 reg Volkswagen Golf on the website in July this year.

The victim, a 27-year-old man from Edgware, in Middlesex, had made contact by mobile phone and agreed to come to Peterborough to make the purchase at a car park in Dalby Court, Westwood, on the evening of July 8.

He travelled by train and taxi before calling the seller again to say he had arrived. A short while later he confronted by two men in balaclavas who threatened him with a knife and assaulted him. He handed over the £7000, his wallet and mobile phone and the robbers made off.

Some children at the scene lent the victim a mobile phone and he called police.

Today, at Peterborough Crown Court Justo was jailed for three years, He had pleaded guilty to robbery at an earlier hearing.

One person remains outstanding for the crime.

DC Kevin Poole, who investigated the case, said: "The victim thought he was getting a great deal but it goes to show that if something appears too good to be true it probably is. This was a violent and planned attack which left the victim shocked and shaken and I welcome the court result today.

"These type of incidents are very rare, however, I would urge people to take care when buying in these circumstances. People should look to get a home address of the seller and phone number, and they should not travel with large sums of cash. It is also worth taking someone else with you and ideally arrange to meet at a home address."

DC Poole said Justo was arrested in the early hours of the day after the robbery as a result oif swift action by police officers.

After speaking to the victim, officers visited the Ebay account of the seller and noted he had recently purchased a Peugeot car. The car was tracked down to Justo's home address in Stagshaw Drive, Peterborough, where he was arrested.

It later became apparent that Justo had created the fictitious advert by copying a genuine advert from another website.