A STOURBRIDGE businessman who pocketed £65,000 from his mother's account after ambitious plans to stage a concert with rock musician Rick Wakeman collapsed has walked free from court - after paying back every penny.

Judge Simon Ward told dishonest Andrew Dingley it was an "appalling breach of trust" but he said he took the view it would not be in the public interest to put him behind bars.

He said 53-year-old Dingley was a man of positive good character and by allowing him to keep his freedom he could repay the friends who came up with the money to keep him out of jail.

Dingley of Westminster Road, Malvern had pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position and the Judge gave him a two year jail term suspended for two years.

He further ordered Dingley to carry out 150 hours unpaid work in the community and to pay £500 towards the prosecution costs.

The Judge said Dingley had fraudulently used his mother's money for his own purposes after being given power of attorney to handle her finances following the sudden death of his father.

The couple's Walsall home had been sold and with other savings the money would have paid his mother's care home fees Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

In March 2016 Dingley had become one of two directors running Base Video Productions Ltd who had studios in Stourbridge and a significant amount of money was invested in the Wakeman project.

But the star then made the decision to withdraw leaving Hingley's plans in a state of collapse and out of pocket so he began using his mother's money as his own.

The fiddle was discovered when the care home revealed the mother's account was overdrawn when it should have held substantial funds. She stayed in the home but her fees had to be paid for by the local authority.

Mr Matthew Cullen, defending, told the court the missing money had been paid back into his mother's account adding that she and Dingley continued to have an "ongoing positive relationship."

He said moves were still being made for Dingley to remortgage his home to raise money to repay back loans he had been given by friends.

Mr Rupert Jones, prosecuting, confirmed the £65,000 had gone back into the account having been in contact with Dingley's brother David and the mother.

The Judge said Dingley had been self employed when he was working as a music promoter and he had hoped to stage the Rick Wakeman concert.

But he withdrew "substantially" from the account when the plans collapsed and initially he had told lies to his brother about the money.

"What you did was out of character," said the Judge who stressed that when Dingley first appeared before the court he had told him that repayment of the money would make all the difference in the case.

A sentence of imprisonment would mean he would be unable to work, he had child care issues and being allowed to stay on the streets would enable him to repay his friends.