Man Utd and England tout jailed for 8 months.

[Dirk Gently]

A tout who successfully applied for England and Manchester United tickets in false names such as Mr Rhubarb and Mr Gravy has been jailed for eight months.

Suhail Patel, 24, of Blackburn, Lancashire, invented hundreds of names in multiple applications for the two official supporter schemes, Preston Crown Court heard.

Patel, of Eldon Road, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of specimen fraud in relation to the false names.

The Old Trafford season ticket holder would go to matches with friends and family but resold the vast majority of the tickets to the public. The court heard he made a profit of £14,000 over a four-month period.

Neither England or Manchester United lost out financially but football supporters were penalised by Patel, said Judge Edward Slinger.

Sentencing Patel, he said: "By doing what you did it meant the genuine followers of the game, people who save money to go to matches, were deprived of the opportunity of getting tickets and have had to paid more for them than otherwise they would have done."

A number of the more than 650 tickets he bought between June and October 2007 were also sold on to other touts.

Judge Slinger added: "There is the potential that by selling on to touts the tickets may have gone into the hands of people who have the potential of causing trouble."

Patel also admitted possessing £10,000 in funds gained from his criminal activity and asked for 159 similar fraud offences between August 2007 and March 2008 to be taken into consideration.

Patel spent £20,130 on 443 England home internationals and £8,940 on 223 tickets for Manchester United home games in the 2007/08 season. He used mainly Asian names in his applications but also posed as Mr Charming, Dr Bowels, Mr Sinatra, Mr Rhubarb and Mr Gravy. Tickets were sent either to his home or a business address in Blakey Moor, Blackburn.

[Royalee]

Good.

[Alivey]

commies trying to stop capitalism..

[Deathy]

Mr Rhubarb and Mr Gravy. Now that's imagination.

[Arnie_Pie]

Mr Rhubarb and Mr Gravy. Now that's imagination.

Slight more imagination than using Mr Naan & Mr Mango Chutney.

[Row Z Royal]

He's not the bloke who sits by the dug-out at OT, is it?

[Deathy]

He's not the bloke who sits by the dug-out at OT, is it?

Was this the random bloke with a turban that went mental at the final whistle against City?