A CONMAN who altered his passport in a bid to deceive a judge and give himself with a false alibi has avoided jail.

Lee Lawrence was facing an accusation of breaching a non-molestation order when he appeared at Colchester Magistrates’ Court in front of District Judge John Woollard.

In a bid to prove he could not have been at the victim’s place of work, Lawrence produced a crudely altered passport where a date from a previous trip had been drawn over.

Mr Woollard thought the document had been doctored and passed it to the court prosecutor who agreed.

Lawrence, 37, was handed a community order for breaching the order.

He was then charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to the attempted passport scam which happened in April 2016.

After initially denying the charge, Lawrence admitted it shortly before he was due to strand trial.

At Chelmsford Crown Court, Judge Charles Gratwicke handed him a nine month prison sentence suspended for two years.

He was also given a curfew meaning he has to stay at his home in Marine Parade East, Clacton, between 7pm and 7am for the next four months and must pay £750 towards prosecution costs.

Judge Gratwicke said Lawrence had come “perilously close” to being sent straight to jail.

He said: The courts regard such matters extremely seriously because those who act in the way you acted strike right at the heart of the criminal justice system.

“This was a flagrant attempt to deceive the district judge when you were before him.

“You knew perfectly well what you were doing, it was not spur of the moment and took a degree of planning.

“But this happened two years ago and there is no suggestion of similar conduct.”

The court heard Lawrence has been unable to work since he suffered a violent attack in 2015 which left him with a fractured skull and related cognitive issues after being hit with a pool cue.

He also suffered a mini stroke which has stopped him attending appointments in relation to his community order for the previous breach.