An asylum seeker with a string of 37 convictions to his name has been jailed for fraud.

Hussein Mahmoud, from Upper Byron Place in Clifton, was sentenced to 16 weeks custody by Bristol Magistrates on Thursday after he conned a pub landlord in Staple Hill into giving him £100.

The court heard he went into the Staple Hill Oak, claiming he worked at a nearby kebab shop and needed the cash for a till float.

Less than a week later, the 48-year-old tried to get £150 from the landlord of the Millhouse in Stoke Bishop, telling him he worked at a fish and chip shop and needed change for a float.

The court heard Mahmoud, who has been in the UK for 10 years, had survived on his alcoholic wife's income support since he was last convicted in July last year.

The Egyptian, who has previously been jailed for failing to complete drug rehabilitation orders and skipping bail, has 13 previous convictions for fraud.

Jailing him, District Judge David Parsons said: "You pressed upon the good will of business people, deceiving them and taking their money.

"This is the sort of offence that requires immediate custody."