POLICE have welcomed a decision to force an identity pirate to hand back his

"treasure trove" of goods.

Joseph Ashby, 31, must sell off goods he acquired as part of a crime spree or face a further 12 months in prison.

The former York resident is serving a three and half year sentence after he netted £45,835 using other people's names, addresses and credit card details.

A court heard that he filled two warehouses with computer hardware as he ran up bills on other people's accounts without their knowledge.

A Judge at York Crown Court ordered him to pay back £17,365, after hearing that the sum would take away all his disposable assets.

John Bainbridge, a financial investigator for North Yorkshire Police, welcomed said: "It's good to see the courts clamping down on identity theft and issuing these orders. This is a stark warning to others: 'You cannot get away with it.'"

As well as selling off the goods, which is expected to be done by his solicitor, Ashby must give up £9,000 in cash he had on him when police arrested him.

Judge Peter Benson said he must hand over the proceeds to the authorities.

They will send the money on to the owners of the internet site dealforfree.co.uk that lost £23,556 through his actions. The site is a portal to other sites that allow customers to carry out a wide range of financial transactions including several forms of gambling.

The order was under legislation aimed at ensuring criminals hand over their profits.

If he fails to pay, he will spend 12 more months in jail after he finishes his current sentence of three years and six months.

That was imposed by the Honorary Recorder of York, Judge Paul Hoffman, for seven charges of deception and four of transferring criminal property, plus 19 similar offences taken into consideration.

Ashby, who was previously resident at Melrose Court, York, admitted all charges.

When he was jailed in April, Andrew Kershaw, prosecuting, said Ashby lived a life of luxury in spring 2004 in York.

He ran up £29,000 of debts in the name of his neighbour, a University of York Professor, then moved to Bristol and used personal details of 140 people to set up accounts on internet betting websites.

After his arrest last September, Ashby pleaded guilty to seven counts of deception and four of transferring criminal property.

At a confiscation hearing Mr Kershaw told Judge Benson the main victim appeared to be CMC Group PLC, which traded as dealforfree.co.uk. The judge told Ashby to hand over the lot in six months or face an extra 12 months in jail.

Updated: 10:27 Friday, July 22, 2005