Royal Marine
HIS incredible tales of heroism with the elite SAS made him sound the perfect catch.
Mary Stride was dazzled by his uniform and spellbound as Michael Brain told her about covert missions.
And she gave him sympathy when he spoke of his post-traumatic stress and how the Army had dumped him.
But in reality, Brain was a gambling addict who fabricated a 23-year military career to dupe 28 women out of a total £40,000 in three years.
He was never in the Royal Marines and never worked as a special forces agent. His ill- fitting, casually worn uniform should have been a giveaway.
Mary was conned out of £1,000 during their three-month relationship in 2015.
The 51-year-old, an ex-teacher who is now a carer, said: “Mick’s military background was exciting. He described his tours in detail. He even showed me photos of him in combat, which I now know were actually his brother.
Manipulator
“I never suspected a thing. He is a professional manipulator.”
In September 2016 Brain, a dad-oftwo, admitted nine fraud and five theft charges. He was jailed for four years and banned from dating sites for life.
Mary saw 47-year-old Brain’s Plenty of Fish dating profile, which showed photos of him in uniform, in June 2015.
He was living at Plymouth Home for Veterans and told her he had been “abandoned by his country”.
Recalling their first date at a pub, Mary, of Plymouth, said: “He was attractive and charming. He said he was trying to get hold of his wages and asked to borrow some money. I lent him £50.”
Later in their date she found him spending the cash in the bookies next door. But they continued dating and he regaled her with tales of military life.
Mary said: “He told me he had done eight tours with the marines and special forces, including Afghanistan, the Gulf and Ireland. His favourite story was how he shot dead a boy in a suicide vest in Afghanistan. He claimed he was haunted by the memory. He loved the sympathy that got him.”
Brain also claimed he had been badly burned by an IED in Afghanistan. But it was actually from a gas canister that caught fire in his mobile home.
Recounting an Armed Forces Day in Plymouth, Mary said: “Mick joked with Royal Marine veterans about ‘ babies’ heads’, military jargon for steak and kidney pies. He went into detail about his involvement with 42 Commando and 29 Commando. Genuine soldiers were taken in. Mick loved the attention.”
Mary said Brain would tell his stories in pubs to get strangers to buy him drinks. She said: “Mick had an alcohol problem, he drank between eight and 20 pints every night. He wet the bed often and blamed it on PTSD.”
Less than a month into to the relationship, Brain stayed at the home she shared with her ex-husband, who was away on business. He stole her ex’s things. When challenged he cla claimed the ex was “a jerk” he wante wanted to teach a lesson. She said: ““I half-believed him. I was ent enthralled with him.” Mary hid her cash but s said Brain still managed to get £1,000 from her, adding: “I gave him the odd handout, which he p promised he’d repay when h he received compensation fr from the Marines. “I also noticed the odd twenty missing but when I challenged him he turned things around so I felt it was my fault.” She also once found him leaning out the window. She said: “He said he was doing covert work. I see now it’s ludicrous. He was obviously talking to other women.”
Mary really started to smell a rat in August when he said his mum had died “to win sympathy”. She said: “I didn’t say much. Mick then claimed he was abused as a trainee marine. It sounded false.”
That month, Brain was held after trying to forge £8,000 of cheques in her ex’s name. He cashed in £2,698. Mary said: “He said his latest mission was to get locked up to carry out Special Forces work in prison.”
She stayed in touch but dropped him in October when he rang to beg for more money, claiming his mum had died – again.
She said: “It was the final straw.” In