A man who went on the run during a Bradford car ringing trial will be sentenced early in the New Year for his part in the £300,000 scam.

Imran Arif, 28, appeared before Leeds Crown Court yesterday after he was arrested in Bradford last month and held in custody.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to handle stolen vehicles between November 27, 2002, and March 2, 2004.

Arif, of Upper Woodlands Road, Girlington, admitted failing to answer to his bail when he appeared at an earlier hearing.

His barrister, Mushtaq Khokhar, said Arif admitted dishonestly handling a BMW and a Mercedes in January and February last year.

Mr Khokhar asked for the case to be adjourned for a pre-sentence report.

Judge Stephen Ashurst remanded Arif in custody until he is sentenced in the week beginning January 9.

The judge told him: "I need to assess your role in this conspiracy and to take account of your failure to attend at your trial."

A confiscation hearing involving three Girlington men who pleaded guilty in July to the conspiracy was postponed until April 10. Sajid Pervez, 23, of Jesmond Avenue; Naheem Salim, 24, also of Jesmond Avenue and Altaf Hussain, 21, of Ambleside appeared in court from prison. All were jailed in September for their role in the racket.

The Crown had accused the defendants of being part of a team of criminals running a well-organised and professional scram receiving stolen cars for profit.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford said that almost £300,000 worth of stolen cars were sold to innocent members of the public.

The team used Bradford auto trader Jesmond Cars as a front for the racket which duped buyers out of more than £100,000.

It was said that 19 stolen cars were linked to the conspiracy. Most were taken from houses in West Yorkshire after the keys were stolen from people's homes.

The cars were sold through Autotrader magazine after they were twinned or cloned with other vehicles of the same make, model and colour.

Stolen and forged logbooks and MoT certificates were provided with them.

The racket was exposed in January last year when undercover police arrested five men in a swoop on a house in Hillcote Drive, Bradford.