Brierley Hill lorry driver, 43, caught in fake clothes racket

But Ralph McConnell was not the man behind the racket because he had been duped into giving his personal details to the real kingpin while he was obtaining a visa to bring his wife to this country.

"I thought he was a friend and that I was doing him a favour when he used my address. It was all going on behind my back," he told Wolverhampton Crown Court.

Computers belonging to the 43-year-old and members of his family were seized when trading standards officials launched an investigation into the racket that imported bogus Ralph Lauren, Lacoste and Fred Perry polo shirts and T-shirts from Thailand.

Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting on behalf of Dudley Council, accepted others were involved but insisted that the defendant – who has a Thai wife and had previously lived in that country – was a leading player in the well-planned fraud.

McConnell, of Brettell Lane, whose wife works as a cleaner, conceded he realised the clothing was fake after it had been returned by disappointed customers who bought it through a website but maintained: "I did not set it up and had no access to the bank account for the money."

He and his wife sent small amounts of cash back to family members in Thailand but the size of those payments proved he was not a major beneficiary from the plot, argued Mr Jonathan Rose, defending, who concluded: "He was not at the top of the tree."

Judge Simon Ward agreed and ruled after a Newton Hearing to determine the extent of the involvement of the defendant in the fraud: "You knew full well what was going on but were more of an assister than a controller. I am sure you did not play a big part in this conspiracy."

McConnell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute counterfeit goods on the basis that he was not a prime mover in the operation. He was given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for a year with 100 hours unpaid work.