Ex-Wales star ‘totally betrayed’ by his wife and friend’s £1m con
RUGBY star Gareth Cooper said he felt like his “world was collapsing” when his wife and friend conned him out of more than £1m.
The former Wales and British and Irish Lions scrum-half has detailed the impact of the offending of his now ex-wife Debra Leyshon and friend and business partner Simon Thomas.
“I was always taught in sport that you learn from your mistakes,” he said in a statement read out as they were sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court last week along with associate Mark Lee.
“As a result of what happened, I now know who my real friends are. I am trying to keep the trust I would naturally have in people, but I find that extremely difficult.”
Roger Griffiths, prosecuting, previously said the case involved the defendants fraudulently obtaining mortgages and loans.
Leyshon, 41, from Wind Street in Laleston, Bridgend, admitted 13 counts of fraud, amounting to just over £1m.
Mr Cooper said: “I am very aware how lucky I have been in life through my sporting ability and how it has taken me beyond my wildest dreams to play for Wales and the Lions.
“In 2006 when I met Simon, my public profile and my level of personal success was probably at an all-time high after touring with the Lions in 2005.
“I had my shoulder repaired that summer and Simon spoke to me about what I would do after rugby.
“The Simon Thomas I met was confident, selfassured and appeared very knowledgeable. It was him who suggested setting up the business with his business success and experience.”
They set up companies called Cooper Freight Services, No 9 Fitness and KGS Gym. Mr Cooper trusted his friend and his wife with the day-to-day running of the businesses.
He said: “He [Thomas] would help me to create a future for my family for when I would have to retire. The ideas for starting the business really came from him. I feel now he targeted and courted my company and wanted to use my profile.”
Mr Cooper added: “Simon’s sophisticated air, outward self-assurance and his ability to woo people initially appeared to be successful for the business. Sadly, I now feel foolish. I didn’t really have the business knowledge that I now have. I didn’t have the background or the experience and, in many ways, felt that Simon was intellectually superior to me.
“He certainly cultivated that and would always reassure me the business was doing well.
“Debra, my ex-wife, like myself, comes from an ordinary background. She has totally betrayed my trust and jeopardised our children’s financial future.”
Mr Cooper said it was only when Thomas’ “web of lies” began to unravel that he discovered he had been bankrupt and had a history of failed businesses.
He said: “His entire image of having class, sophistication and business success was a complete lie. He had taken me in. I feel he manipulated Debra and played people off one another so that he would always gain.
“I will never forget the shock when I discovered I was made bankrupt without my knowledge and that the houses had been repossessed. It was as if my world was collapsing.
“To then find out it was my wife and mother to our children left me dumbstruck.
“It is particularly cruel he convinced Debra to protect him.
“He went further, trying to encourage me not to go to the police because he would sort it all out and stop Debra going to prison.”
Mr Cooper said his father was due to retire in 2017 but had to help him out financially with legal fees. He now owes his parents more than £100,000 in legal fees.
He said: “But for my parents, I would have lost everything.
“My dad has been a working man all his life. He had to sacrifice his pension in order to pay the legal fees to try and stop me losing everything and to keep the gym business alive.
“He had done physical work all his life. For my parents to sacrifice all of their plans for retirement and all of their hardearned money in order to help me says everything about them.
“They have always been honest, hardworking people. The only honest thing Simon has done is plead guilty.”
Leyshon was given a two-year jail term, suspended for 24 months.
Thomas, 47, from Beaconsfield in Wick, near Cowbridge, admitted two counts of fraud, with his involvement adding up to £380,000.
He was given a 16-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and disqualified from being a company director for eight years.
Lee, 43, from Lower Hill in Barton Road, Exeter, admitted one count of fraud amounting to £50,000.
He was given a ninemonth prison sentence, suspended for 24 months.