Apprentice star Christopher Farrell avoids prison

A FORMER contestant in Lord Alan Sugar's hit The Apprentice was given a suspended sentence for fraud.

Mortgage broker Christopher Farrell attempted to dupe lenders by falsifying customers' applications so they were more likely to be loaned money.

The former Royal Marine, who appeared in the most recent series of the BBC1 show, inflated applicants' salaries and forged documents to clinch them a mortgage - and in turn increase his chances of making his sales bonus.

Farrell, 29, was arrested last August after a bank discovered the fraud, but he tried to blame his colleagues for forging the documents.

However, he quickly admitted his guilt and pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud by false representation before magistrates in Plymouth last month. He asked for three further charges to be taken into consideration.

Appearing at Plymouth Crown Court, Farrell was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and 200 hours' community service.

Farrell, of Arrowe Park Road, Upton, Wirral, Merseyside, worked as a mortgage and insurance adviser with the company, Mortgages for Plymouth, between November 2007 and August 2009.

He was revealed as having had two previous convictions for gun possession before the shows were broadcast.