A former Avon and Somerset Police Officer who stole seventy thousand pounds through fraudulent bank loans to fund an affair with a colleague has escaped jail.

37 year Jamie Hillman from Bristol defrauded more than half a dozen high street banks, including Northern Rock and Barclays - by applying for loans and credit cards, during which he claimed to be a sergeant in the Metropolitan Police and a soldier serving in Afghanistan.

He said he had amnesia while committing the fraud - and a judge has handed him a suspended one year prison term after branding him 'emotionally fragile' and 'brave' for admitting his crime.