A thieving travel agent from Strood ripped off £50,000 from customers, a court heard.

Tony Porter - who now has a wife and two children in Thailand - has been told he is not allowed to travel to see them without permission.

The 33-year-old Strood conman, who was a travel coordinator, has been given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid work.

But Mr Justice Nicklin feared Porter would disappear to Thailand without doing the community work or paying £4,000 in compensation and court costs.

So he ruled Porter, of Station Road, Strood, has to reside in the UK for the next two years and can only travel abroad with permission from the Probation Service.

Maidstone Crown Court had heard how his greed almost ruined a once-in-a-lifetime trip by a couple taking part in a round-the-world yachting competition.

Mandy Gray handed over £130,000 to cover the costs of her crew’s trip to New Zealand to take part in the Oyster World Rally 2017-19.

She wrote later: “This part of my life with my partner and family was supposed to be a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to take part in the rally.

“We were intending to sail from England to New Zealand and my sailing life was very hectic aboard, managing crew members, new locations, the logistics of life on board and also managing issues back in the UK.”

She added that Porter had in the beginning “showed great efficiency and professionalism” in organising flights.

But she added: “Large errors began to crop up. Flights were not booked, crew and family members were going to the airport only to be told the flights had not been booked.”

She said Porter blamed the airlines for the problems and promised “to fix the situation in a timely manner”.

The court heard how more problems happened and Porter began ignoring calls and emails and claiming he was in hospital with kidney stones.

By July 2017, Ms Gray realised he had been charging her inflated prices and using a company account without permission.

She added: “My assistant (in the UK) further learned that Porter’s agency had put him on a two-week suspension when a shortfall became noticeable in my account.

“They also mentioned that Porter was receiving these funds into a personal account and he would then transfer these funds by bank transfer or by credit card to the travel company either at the correct booked price or by skimming extra funds.”

“He has caused hours of distress for friends, family and crew members when flights weren’t booked, when he kept money that was not his.” - Ms Gray

She also revealed the fraudster took payments for flights which weren’t booked - including one for Ms Gray’s daughter.

Two crew members arrived at a very small airport in the Marqueses Islands only to discover there were no booking.

Ms Gray also discovered a flight she had booked as a gift for her brother had not been made.

She told the judge in her Victim Impact Statement: “Porter has stolen funds directly and caused the loss of tens of thousands of pounds.

“He has caused hours of distress for friends, family and crew members when flights weren’t booked, when he kept money that was not his.”

Natasha Dardashti, prosecuting, added that another victim, father-of-three Paul Vale, had arranged a trip to Australia after booking with First and Business Class Travel in High Street Rochester.

He paid £14,433 into what he believed was the company’s bank account - which was protected by ATOL - but it turned out to be Porter’s own bank account.

The five-strong family was due to fly on March 30, 2016, but discovered two weeks before that Singapore Airlines had no booking.

She added that when Mr Vale contacted First and Business Class he was told that Porter had been sacked in 2015.

Mr Vale eventually contacted Porter who told him his booking had expired and he needed to pay another £2,553. Porter claimed he had been cheated by a Thai company.

The court heard that when Mr Vale’s party arrived in Doha, a car hire had not been paid for and in Sydney, hotels had either not been booked or not paid for.

The prosecutor said after threatening legal action, Mr Vale accepted a £7,000 refund paid by Porter’s father.

John Fitzgerald, defending, said Porter had suffered “a very significant fall from grace and now works as a £400 a week labourer."

He admitted three frauds and received an 18-month jail sentence suspended for two years and was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work for the community.

He has also been banned from being a company director for five years.

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