Most budding legal eagles have a grasp of what they can possibly get away with within the bounds of the law.

But when law student Andrew Curzon received a cheque for more than £100,000 that had been sent to his address by mistake, he did not bank on being caught trying to deposit the money in his own account.

Curzon, 19, of Lingfield Road, Wimbledon, wrongly received a Bank of Scotland cheque for £117,533 in the post.

It was made out to his elderly neighbour as a payment from a pension fund that had matured.

But instead of returning it to its rightful owner, the teenager wrote his name over the pensioner's, went into the Wimbledon Village branch of NatWest and asked staff to put the sum in his bank account.

Suspicious cashiers told Curzon to come back in a week to check the funds had cleared and the student was arrested on his return.

Curzon feigned ignorance in police interviews, claiming he had thrown away the covering letter and did not realise the cheque was meant for someone else.

But appearing at Wimbledon Magistrates' Court last Tuesday, Curzon pleaded guilty to forgery and using a false instrument.

He was bailed to return on August 15.

Detective Constable Martin Spencer, the officer in charge, said: "I cannot explain why this well educated young man who is studying for a degree at university would be involved in such matters. This conviction will no doubt damage his career prospects.

"I would like to thank staff at the local NatWest bank in Wimbledon Village for their alertness.

"Their actions have prevented a substantial financial loss to the complainant who is elderly.

"She has suffered shock and distress over this. I hope this is a warning to offenders who may choose to commit offences within Merton Borough that they will be caught."

A spokeswoman for NatWest said: "Fraud is increasing in our industry all the time. We do a lot of training with staff to make sure we are protecting our other customers.

"They are trained to look out for anything suspicious. It's not advisable for anybody to alter cheques at all. This is fraud and the police will deal with people perpetrating a fraud."

5:23pm Wednesday 2nd August 2006

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