A serial conman will spend the next four months behind bars in Queensland after tricking five people into forking out more than $50,000 to secure a "hotly sought-after" car he didn't actually have.
The Brisbane District Court on Monday heard Joshua Peter McIntosh, 47, has more than 100 convictions under his belt as part of a criminal history spanning more than 20 years and multiple states.
The court heard his present offending included advertising a classic car online at a "bargain" price last year and receiving deposits totalling $51,201 from five interested buyers.
Crown prosecutor Amanda Robinson said McIntosh's "charade" continued for about two-and-a-half months and included stalling his victims with tales of a sick or dead mother in a "particularly callous" element of his crime.
She also noted some of the complainants who flew interstate to meet with the fraudster would have felt foolish when they discovered he wasn't there to meet them at the other end.
Judge Ian Dearden sentenced to him a head term of three years, with a parole release date of January 18, 2017, for charges including fraud and unlawful use of a motor vehicle.
He acknowledged submissions from defence barrister James Benjamin about a January assault suffered by McIntosh while in prison on remand that left him with a perforated ear drum and required treatment at the Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Since then McIntosh had received threats behind bars and even needed guards to escort him during times of movement, Mr Benjamin said.
McIntosh told him he needed the money obtained from the false car advertisement to pay off a family debt, he said.
However, the Crown said bank records indicated some of the funds went towards "luxury items".
The court heard McIntosh also failed to appear after he took a car for a test drive and didn't return it in 2001, later posing as the owner at a different dealership and trying to sell it for $14,000.
He has been sentenced to terms of imprisonment on 12 previous occasions.
AAP