JOBLESS Paul Rowlands went on a shopping spree which lasted years and included a prestige car and motorbike, specialist camera gear and top class holidays, a court heard.

But the 45-year-old denies that the wads of cash he used for many of the buys was from the ill-gotten £1.7m his wife Beryl has admitted stealing from Dunbar Bank in London.

Rowlands, of Blunsdon, pleads not guilty to handling just under £35,500 in stolen cash between August 1997 and November 1998.

He also denies receiving wrongful credit amounting to some £17,000 between September 1997 and April 2000.

Prosecuting at Swindon Crown Court, Michael Hopmeier catalogued a number of purchases made by Paul Rowlands throughout the 1990s.

Confirmed by shop workers from a number of outlets, who received payment from Rowlands both in cash and credit card transaction, purchases included:

n A £45,000 Mercedes CLK Elegance cabriolet

n A £12,400 Harley Davidson Heritage Springer motorbike

n Thousands of pounds worth of holidays to destinations including Scotland, USA, Maldives, Seychelles, and New Zealand

n Thousands of pounds worth of camera equipment, including specialist underwater gear and film processing systems.

Mr Hopmeier said Rowlands spent £9,600 on camera equipment from one supplier alone.

"About £7,000 of that was paid in cash," he told the jury.

Builder George Clack said he did building work for Paul Rowlands' mother in Covingham, Swindon, and the full £12,000 bill was paid in cash.

Eunice Harrod, manager at Jessops photographic shop in Bridge Street, Swindon, said Paul Rowlands was a regular customer buying all sorts of camera gear.

She told the court: "He paid in cash, nearly always £50 notes. He would have wads of between £200 and £300."

John Owen, managing director of John Owen Travel in Havelock Street, confirmed he had dealt with both Mr and Mrs Rowlands since 1988 Mr Rowlands booking flights to as far afield as the USA, Seychelles and New Zealand, on some occasions for just one person.

And staff at the Chewton Glen Hotel in Hampshire confirmed the Rowlands clocked up a hotel bill of £25,550.58 over the last few years.

Beryl Rowlands was jailed last month for four and a half years after admitting stealing £1.7m from the Sackville Street branch of Dunbar Bank where she worked as a manager.

The prosecution's case against Paul Rowlands hinges on whether he knew that the money he used to fund his lifestyle was stolen.

The case continues.