A MAN who tried to fool a court with a faked doctor's letter saying he had heart trouble has been spared jail because his wife is now genuinely very ill.

Mohsin Mahmood handed the bogus document to Bradford and Keighley magistrates in a desperate attempt to avoid a prison sentence for non payment of £960 in fines.

But his scam backfired when a suspicious court clerk checked out the dodgy document.

It was then discovered to have been forged.

Mahmood, 28, of Perth Avenue, Bolton, Bradford, was imprisoned for 28 days when the Justices activated a suspended committal order.

He was also sent to Bradford Crown Court for sentence for perverting the course of public justice on November 14 last year.

Prosecutor Heather Gilmore told the Crown Court yesterday that Mahmood produced the letter, which had a National Health Service heading.

The letter stated that he had "cardiac issues" and had been in hospital. He claimed he was therefore unable to make the repayments on the fines.

Checks with the health service revealed that the "Dr Norton" cited did not work for Bradford Teaching Hospitals.

The letterhead was also found to be not genuine.

When Mahmood was rumbled, he immediately confessed that the document was a fake.

He told the magistrates he was scared of going to jail. He was on benefits and his wife was pregnant.

Mahmood had a conviction in 2014 for resisting a police officer.

His barrister, Simon Batiste, conceded that Mahmood had acted stupidly and that offences of this type would usually attract an immediate prison sentence.

But the court was told that his wife was now genuinely seriously ill with cancer and was about to begin a course of chemotherapy.

The couple had a baby and Mahmood was needed to help the family through a worrying and difficult time.

Mahmood's relatives had paid off the fines, enabling him to be released early from the jail sentence.

He was a devoted family man, with a university degree, and worked part-time for a window company.

Judge Robert Bartfield said Mahmood would have gone straight to jail had it not been for his wife's "rare and very disturbing" illness.

The Judge warned of the dangers of producing false documents to the court.

"Many people attend court thinking a false document will benefit them. It actually makes their position immeasurably worse," he said.

Mahmood was sentenced to two months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a 30-day activity requirement with the probation service.