Dentist jailed for £1m investment scam

A dentist who stole more than £1 million from patients and friends in a property investment con has been jailed for six years.

Dr John Hammond, 69, posed as a successful businessman to persuade clients to part with their life savings.

He spent the cash on a luxury lifestyle that his victims could only dream of while leaving them to face poverty in old age.

Hammond, of Wymeswold, Leics, was finally exposed by the BBC’s programme The Sheriffs Are Coming. He has been struck off by the General Dental Council and was made bankrupt over £5.3 million he owed to more than 100 creditors.

Hammond was found guilty of fraud at Leicester Crown Court, which was packed with his victims, who invested between £4,000 and £370,000 in his non-existent property empire.

One described him as a “Walter Mitty” character and another said he was a “pathological liar and a conman”.

One tricked woman said she had been left with a “living hell”.