A 49-YEAR-OLD man bought fake £1 coins for 50p each in a Hereford pub to use in gaming machines, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Ivan Bray was spotted by Police as he drove erratically from Hereford towards Worcester.

A breath test proved negative but a search of his Volkswagen car and his person revealed a total of 298 counterfeit £1 coins, David Iles, prosecuting, said.

Mr Iles said Bray had been visiting Hereford, where he had long standing associations, and was in the Bowling Green pub when he was approached by a man selling the coins.

"He thought they were tokens for gaming machines," Mr Iles said.

Police had the coins tested and they worked in gaming machines.

Bray had paid £148 for them but there was no evidence he had used any.

Adjourned

Mr Dele Alakija, defending, said Bray, from Crescent Road, Barnet in north London, who was found guilty at an earlier hearing of having custody of the fake coins, had been having problems with memory loss stemming from before the time of his arrest in October, 2000.

Judge Ian Morris said the coins could have gone into general circulation as £1 coins. He adjourned the case for psychiatric reports.