A benefit cheat had his conviction quashed after claiming a magistrate nodded off during his trial.

Stephen Holmes, 39, wrote a letter to the Lord Chancellor's department complaining the trial had been unfair because one of the three presiding JPs had fallen asleep.

But moments after Brighton magistrates overturned the verdict yesterday, Holmes pleaded guilty to the identical ten counts of claiming £16,000 housing benefit while living with his mother.

Holmes, of Lustrells Vale, Saltdean, denied the charges in July but was found guilty after a trial in August.

In the letter, which was not read out in court, he did not identify which of the three magistrates he believed had taken 40 winks.

Chairman of the bench, Dr Howard Carter, who was on the bench in the earlier trial, said: "We've seen the complaint from the defendant. It is the court's duty to ensure that justice is done and is seen to be done.

"Given the defendant has a perception he did not receive a fair trial we consider it to be in the interests of justice to withdraw this conviction."

Seconds after the ruling, Holmes admitted ten charges of making a false statement to obtain a benefit, which date from May 1993 to June last year.

Outlining the case, Len Batten, prosecuting for Brighton and Hove City Council, said Holmes had been making claims for benefit saying he was not related to his landlord.

The guilty plea means Holmes can expect a lesser sentence.