A man facing 20 charges, including one of obtaining cash from his titled landlady by deception, was ordered to stand trial by a judge and jury when he appeared before magistrates in Harrogate yesterday.

James Dyer, 21, is accused of 15 counts of deception including one alleging he obtained a £15,000 loan from Lady Fiona Fairfax, of Copt Hewick, near Ripon, which he did not repay.

Dyer, who also uses the surnames Coleman and Cawthorne, is also accused of using Lady Fairfax's identity to help him secure a finance agreement to obtain a £6,000 Jaguar car from Red Line Racing, at Bishop Thornton, near Harrogate, by deception.

Eleven charges accuse Dyer, of Park Grove, Knaresborough, of obtaining fuel and goods by deception from a petrol station at Woodlands Corner, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, while another charge alleges a similar deception on a filling station in Ripon Road, Harrogate. The total amount involved in all 12 is said to be £468. Dyer is also accused of stealing a chequebook, using a false insurance cover note and obtaining a £5,995 Range Rover by deception.

Two more charges claim Dyer had possession of offensive weapons, two baseball bats and a plastic pistol, and he is also accused of having a Bowie knife.

Presiding magistrate Cecily Horton bailed Dyer until July 30 when he is expected to be sent to York Crown Court. Reporting restrictions were not lifted.

Updated: 11:39 Tuesday, June 26, 2001