A fake barrister worked in family law when he was not qualified to do so, a court heard.

Chatham resident Scott Willey admitted three counts of fraud by false representation, one count of making/supplying an article for the use in fraud, one count of falsely implying to be a barrister and one offence under the computer misuse act last December.

The 27-year-old attended the City Law School but did not graduate and was never called to the Bar.

Despite this, he became "fixated"on pursuing his "dream career" in law, offering legal advice and working on 18 cases for a London-based chambers.

Willey accessed a colleague’s email account and stole a copy of a practising certificate, which he edited to pass off as his own.

He also provided another colleague’s Bar Council Membership number to maintain the appearance of being a barrister to the Bar Standards Board and to the chambers.

Willey, of Walderslade Road, used the fraudulent practising certificate to obtain a legal aid account and informed the chambers he had qualified from the Bar Professional Training Course with a mark of “very competent”.

He was offered a pupillage at the chambers for one year and joined at the start of October 2017.

In June 2018, his lies were eventually uncovered after discrepancies in the evidence he had provided about his qualifications came to light.

He has now been jailed for 27 months.

Detective Constable Gary Kearley, of the City of London Police, speaking after the hearing at Inner London Crown Court, said: “Willey went to extraordinary lengths to cover up his lack of qualifications and fool a professional chambers of law into hiring him as a barrister.

“By doing this, he abused many people’s trust including his clients who looked to him for professional and legally sound advice and help.

“Thankfully his lies were uncovered. He will now have to ponder the consequences of his obsessive pursuit of a career in law from prison.”