‘It is the one with the doppleganger your honour,’ prosecutor tells judge as David Schwimmer 'lookalike' appears in court

A man who was dubbed a "lookalike" of Friends actor David Schwimmer has denied fraud and theft charges in court.

CCTV images of Abdulah Husseni released by Blackpool Police went viral after they noticed his likeness to Mr Schwimmer.

Judge Beverley Lunt at Preston Crown Court asked at the start of the trial on Friday: “Is this the Ross from Friends case?”

Joe Allman, prosecuting, replied: “It is the one with the doppleganger, your honour.”

The 36-year-old defendant, from Tehran, who had a shaved head and wore grey tracksuit bottoms and a blue shirt, pleaded not guilty to the theft of a wallet in Blackpool on September 20 last year.

He also denied five fraud offences by allegedly using or attempting to use a stolen Halifax bank card on 17 occasions in shops between September 20 and November 5 last year.

The image shared by Blackpool Police showed a man leaving a restaurant and carrying what appeared to be a carton of beer cans.

Social media users pointed out the likeness to Mr Schwimmer's character Ross Geller in the popular US sitcom.

Mr Schwimmer responded to the picture by posting a video to his Twitter account of him scurrying through a convenience store carrying a crate of beer before looking up furtively at a CCTV camera.

He wrote: “Officers I swear it wasn’t me. As you can see I was in New York.”

"To the hardworking Blackpool Police, good luck with the investigation."

He added the hashtag 'itwasntme' to the post.

Mr Husseini is accused of stealing a coat, a phone and a wallet from Mr Basrai's restaurant in Blackpool on September 20.

There was no application for bail by the defendant, from Spencer Road, Slough, west London.

A trial date for the Blackpool theft and fraud offences was set for July 4.

Additional reporting by PA.