A man who pretended to be a Customs and Excise officer to steal more than £5,000 from a shopkeeper, was slammed by a judge today when "fake" letters from his children were produced in court as mitigation.

Father-of-four Ilyas Malik was appearing before a judge to be sentenced for his part in a distraction burglary at NN News in Desborough Road, High Wycombe.

The thief hoped for leniency by providing the judge with letters "written by his children" begging for their dad not to be sent away - as Malik had told them he might have to "go away for work."

However, Judge Francis Sheridan derided the 34-year-old's attempt to lessen his sentence and said: "I should say I regard the letters written by your children as completely fake.

"I'm not stupid and I'm not going to be treated like I'm stupid."

He chastised Malik for trying to get the judge to think of his family and said: "You should have been thinking of your family. You paraded yourself as representing the Revenue. It is a complete scam."

Malik was told he faced 30 months in jail and Judge Sheridan said: "To impose less would be unfair on your co-defendant and an insult to the justice system."

Prosecutor Edward Hollingsworth told how Malik knew the owner of NN News in High Wycombe, had previously been in trouble for selling illegal cigarettes, when he and co-defendant, Ian Hargest, brazenly walked in at 5.30pm one evening and told shopkeeper Mohammad Bashir they had a warrant to search the shop.

The judge heard that Malik distracted Mr Bashir while Hargest produced fake paperwork and a woman, who was never identified, barred customers from entering.

A total of £5,923.64 was then stolen from the shop where there were no contraband cigarettes.

Malik's co-defendant pleaded guilty at his first appearance in magistrate's court, but Malik denied being involved until he admitted all charges, of burglary, false imprisonment with intent and impersonating a Customs officer, on the first day of his trial at Aylesbury Crown Court.

Malik sat in the dock wearing a short-sleeved white shirt and no tie, and his defence counsel, Ayanna Nelson, urged the judge to spare him a jail sentence because of his family responsibilities, including caring for two severely disabled sisters and his mother, who is waiting for a kidney transplant.

She said: "He has provided some letters written by his children. He has told them he may be going away to work. They are addressed to 'Daddy's work.'"

However Judge Sheridan told the defendant, who lives in Windsor: "You are in it up to your neck, going into the newsagents and pretending to be part of Revenue and Customs and stealing goods and cash.

"Your co-defendant got two years at magistrates court and you, on the other hand, held out on a line of defence until the day of trial."