Woman jailed for swindling £50k from ex in ‘lost limbs’ lie

AFRAUDSTER who pretended she had her legs and arm amputated to swindle her ex-boyfriend out of his near £50,000 life savings has been jailed for three years

Mother-of-one Linda O’Connor, 42, told her former partner Colin Wilton she had undergone limb amputations after being diagnosed with blood poisoning and needed money for a flight home.

In reality she had married another man and was using taxi driver Mr Wilton’s cash to support her lifestyle.

In a victim impact statement read out in Cardiff Crown Court, 65-year-old Mr

Wilton said he felt “betrayed”.

Sentencing O’Connor – who also uses the name as Linda Vaughan, Judge Eleri Rees said: “This was an elaborate web of lies.”

The court heard the frauds occurred over a four-year period between February 2012 and January 2016.

Jason Howells, prosecuting, said the defendant swindled her victim out of £49,225. The court heard Mr Wilton made 201 payments to O’Connor, as frequently as twice a week, with the smallest amount being £35 and the largest £3,700.

Prosecutors said the defendant shared an interest in cross-stitch with Mr Wilton’s then wife and they met online.

O’Connor, from Cwmbran, met Mr Wilton in 2009 and, following the ending of his marriage, he moved from Devon to her home in south Wales. Mr Wilton, a self-employed taxi driver, last saw O’Connor in August 2011, but they remained in contact as friends via text messages and email.

Mr Howells said the complainant wished O’Connor a happy birthday on January 1, 2012, and soon afterwards, she told him she had become ill abroad and needed £1,600 to fly home.

Prosecutors said Mr Wilton put £1,000 into her account on February 9, followed by £1,500 on February 24.

The court heard there was regular text message and email contact between them, with the defendant telling Mr Wilton she could not come home because she was suffering from gangrene and septicaemia.

She also said she had both of her legs and an arm amputated, that the battery for her wheelchair had been stolen and needed replacing and she was living in a tent on a beach.

Mr Wilton offered to drive and pick her up, but she would not tell him where she was.

Prosecutors said he put £3,000 from his pension fund into her account on July 30, 2012, then £3,700 the following day.

The court heard Mr Wilton made the payments every week, sometimes twice a week, after O’Connor said she needed money for medicine, food and housing. Mr Howells said Mr Wilton understood that O’Connor would receive some compensation and he would be repaid.

Prosecutors said in April 2016 he was looking at a dating website when he recognised her profile and contacted her. He received an email which said it was from O’Connor’s brother, stating he was a solicitor and Mr Wilton should not contact O’Connor again.

Mr Wilton went to Torquay police station and reported what had happened.

The court heard there was a delay as police struggled to locate the defendant, who later failed to attend court hearings. She was charged in March last year and stated in interview she met Mr Wilton through his wife and visited them in Devon.

O’Connor stated Mr Wilton turned up on her doorstep without warning and told her he was “madly in love” with her. She told officers he wanted to move in, so she let him stay as a lodger, but there was no sexual relationship. The defendant denied asking him for money, saying he chose to send it to her and would not allow her to pay him back.

Asked why she made up the amputations, she said Mr Wilton was “shallow” and she wanted him to lose interest in her. O’Connor said she received money more in the region of £8,000 to £10,000.

In a victim impact statement 65-year-old Mr Wilton said he felt “used” having given up his taxi business and home in Devon to move in with Vaughan.

“I was being used, to be honest. I was totally strung along and used,” he said. “As a result of all of this I still have sleepless nights and think about all the things she described and how she said she was living.

“It has left me feeling depressed – I lost something I really loved. I gave up my home and job to be with the defendant.”

Mr Wilton said he now worked 60 to 80 hours a week earning £200 a week as a self-employed taxi driver, was renting a room in a shared house, and could not afford to take time off for a shoulder operation.

The defendant, of New Street, Cwmbran, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud.

Hashim Salman, defending, said his client was of previous good character. He accepted the offending was “mean” but said it was out of character.

O’Connor was jailed for three years. Sentencing, Judge Rees said: “This was an elaborate web of lies. His affection for you, which was certainly genuine on his side, blinded him to what might have been obvious to an independent and detached observer.

“You were taking full advantage of his feelings for you and draining him of his financial resources.”