A Birmingham teenager posed as a viscount during a "campaign of dishonesty" in which he lived a Champagne lifestyle of expensive shopping trips to New York and Europe.

In order to con financial institutions, James Burke made a series of false and exaggerated claims including boasts he had investments and savings of up to #3.3 million, Birmingham Crown Court was told.

The victims included American Express and Coutts & Co.

Burke, 22, of Wilmott Road, Sutton Coldfield, admitted eight offences of deception and one of an act intended to pervert the course of justice.

Sentencing him to a 22-month prison sentence suspended for two years, the judge Recorder Mr Mark Hill said because of the serious mental illness Burke was suffering, he was treating it as an exceptional case.

"The lies and falsehoods you put forward to obtain financial advantage were significant and to some extent reflect the credulity of the lending institutions prepared to accept assertions as to your wealth and in some cases as much as #3.3 million.

"Also you and your brother were both viscounts and therefore not only wealthy but had places in society."

Mary Loram, prosecuting, said Burke's spree began in October 2003 when he applied to become a student at York University to read music and was accepted after including bogus references from a former tutor.

He did not take the place after claiming financial hardship but embarked on a series of frauds on financial institutions.

Burke obtained a credit card from American Express after claiming he was a junior solicitor for a Birmingham firm and used it to go on a number of shopping sprees, visiting New York and spending over #20,000.

He approached Coutts & Co, claiming he was a student at Cambridge and had capital of #1.7 million after being left an inheritance by his grandmother on his 16th birthday.

Miss Loram said Burke provided false documents from the Halifax Building Society and in September 2003 was given debit and credit cards.

Burke used the cards in New York to buy designer clothes including Versace and Gucci items and spent more than #8,000 on hotel bills.

He went on shopping trips in Brussels and Germany and in July 2004 withdrew #10,000, making further transactions in New York and Washington.

Miss Loram said Burke used his Coutts account to spend over #55,000 which ultimately caused his current account to be overdrawn by #19,430.

She said a trip Burke and his brother made to Paris was funded by a Coutts credit card which had the benefit of providing the holder with free travel insurance.

When they returned to Birmingham International Airport in March 2004, Burke approached the duty manager of the airport.

"He told him not only he and his brother were viscounts on the way to St James's Palace but two bags of luggage had not arrived in England," said Miss Loram.

Burke went on to claim over #16,000 from an insurance company by making a false claim about the bags he said were packed with designer clothes.

She said Burke carried out a fraud on the West Bromwich Building Society in Perry Barr, Birmingham, where he worked as a customer services adviser.

He obtained a loan for #20,000 from the Halifax after saying he was a manager earning a monthly salary of #3,224 and told the HSBC in York although he was a student he owned a three-bedroomed property and an annual income of #280,000 from investments.

Stuart Baker, defending, said most of the amounts defrauded were not great.