Elaborate double life of fake firefighter
A conman who posed as a hero firefighter with business links to A-list celebrities during an elaborate £100k fraud and left his fiancee pregnant following a fake vasectomy has been jailed.
Greg Wilson, who already had a wife and children in a nearby town, convinced Coleen Greenwood they had a lavish wedding booked at the luxuryWy na rd Hall in County Durham but backed out twice at short notice.
Newcastle Crown Court heard the 39-year-old liar, who lived under the alias James Scott, persuaded Miss Greenwood and her sister Karen Crear to invest in a boutique hotel development and an upmarket property firm by claiming heh ad£2m backingfrom his millionaire mum, who was a former sports agent.
The fraudster claimed he had lined up celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay to run the restaurant at the quayside hotel in Newcastle, had musicianSam Smith on board with marketing and had high-grade tenants including Sunderland football club' s Jack Rod well already renting homes.
Prosecutor Richard Herrmann told the court by the time Wilson's "double-life" was exposed, Miss Greenwood had given birth to and registered their child under his fake name.
The sisters were left financially out of pocket by tens of thousands of pounds and have been left feeling humiliated and hurt, as well as financially damaged, by his cruel and clever deception.
The court heard Miss Greenwood had met Wilson, formerly of Chester-le-Street, over dating site Match in 2014 and their relationship "flourished".
Mr Herrmann told the court: "The defendant’s lying was detailed and convincing. He had even told Miss Greenwood about specific fires he had attended and even lied about an event when he saved the life of a child by jumping from the window of a burning building with the child in his arms, breaking his back in the process; he showed her a thank you card from the family.
"It was all lies. He gave elaborate detail about family members, his own work and education history, where he lived and even his health; all of it was lies.”
Mr Herrmann said that IIN April 2015, Wilson told Miss Greenwood that he had arranged to have a vasectomy and he produced a document purporting to show that the procedure had been successful .
"Unbeknown to her, that was all a charade and the defendant had not had any such operation," he said.
The court heard Miss Greenwood fell pregnant within two months and was convinced by Wilson it was a "miracle" baby, who was born and registered using his father's fake identity.
The court heard that two weddings planned at Wynya rd Hall were cancelled.
It was the second wedding cancellation which prompted Ms Greenwood’s sister, Karen Crear, to investigate Wilson's background and his shocking deception was slowly uncovered.
Wilson admitted eight charges of fraud, two of forgery, one of making a false statement about a birth and one of converting criminal property.
Judge James Adkin jailed Wilson for a total of six years and told him: "You knew how cruel you were being. These were sophisticated and sustained frauds."