For a string of middle-aged single women struggling with their finances, he seemed to be a knight in shining armour.
Having
met Christian Barber on a dating website and fallen for his charm, he
would reveal that he was an £118million lottery winner with a fleet of
luxury cars. And, what’s more, he wanted to pay off all their debts.
But
Barber was in fact a homeless conman who travelled across the country
in his VW Golf, a court heard, gaining the trust of vulnerable women
before raiding their bank accounts.
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Lesson: Victim Christine Spencer, 57, (left) was duped by Christian Barber on a dating website
The 41-year-old – who claimed to own a
hotel complex in Barbados and a large house in the exclusive Cornish
resort of Rock – swindled more than £45,000 from at least six women,
between September 2011 and March 2013.
After
meeting on popular dating sites – including Plenty of Fish – and
gaining their trust, he told them he would help with their financial
problems.
But once he had their bank details, he would secretly steal large amounts of money from them.
The
conman showed the women photographs of at least eight luxury cars he
supposedly owned – including Maseratis and Porsches – but he in fact had
no permanent home and the only vehicle he owned was a 2003 VW Golf.
One
victim gave up her rented house believing they were moving in together,
while another broke off a long-term relationship to be with him.
And
one was left by the roadside after believing she was about to be taken
on the holiday of a lifetime – only for him to drive off in search of
his next victim.
On Friday,
Barber admitted eight charges of theft, three charges of fraud and a
charge of making off without payment for hotel accommodation. Yesterday
he was jailed for 59 months.
His victims came from towns across the country, from Yorkshire to Cornwall.
Wendy
Stubbs told the Mail how she was so convinced by his fake identity
after meeting him in July 2011 that she quickly introduced him to her
parents, her three grown-up children and friends.
‘My
family thought he was amazing – as did I. He was charming and
complimentary and seemed very genuine,’ she said.
Like many of the other
women he seduced, he only told Miss Stubbs he was ‘secretly wealthy’
around three weeks into the relationship, saying he wanted to attract
the ‘right kind of woman’ and not someone looking for money.
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Devastated: Wendy Stubbs' house was also ransacked by Barber
Around
the same time Barber – who also claimed he was a member of the
upmarket Barbour clothing company dynasty – offered to help with her
finances.
He told the
48-year-old driving instructor from Grantham that he hated to see her in
so much debt and that he wanted to pay off all her credit card bills –
and pretended to do so in front of her on the phone.
But
instead, he began gradually stealing small amounts from her savings
account as well as pretending to ‘invest’ large amounts of her money.
Six weeks into the relationship – and still unaware of the money that he
had slowly stolen from her – the conman promised to whisk Miss Stubbs
to Dubai.
But after waiting
in vain at her daughter’s house for him to pick her up, she returned
home to find it had been ransacked and he had stolen several family
heirlooms.
‘I was devastated,’ she said. ‘I feel like I’ve been to hell and back and I don’t think I can trust anyone again.’
She claims he stole £20,000 from her in total.
Another
victim, Christine Spencer, 57, from Derby, told the Mail last night how
Barber stole more than £11,000 from her over the course of their
five-month relationship.
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Scam: Barber used sites like Plenty of Fish to
meet vulnerable women and eventually run off with their money having
seduced them with elaborate lies
Around three weeks after meeting in January 2012, he told her he wanted to invest her money in his Barbados hotel business.
‘I
was to head up this operation on a salary of £100,000 to recruit and
train the employees,’ the learning and development professional said.
‘This of course never happened. I gave him my money and he “invested” it.’
The
divorced mother of three added: ‘I have moved on and learnt to evaluate
people more closely. This is a lesson for other women to be careful.
‘I would never have thought I’d be sucked into such a scam but he seemed completely genuine.’
Lincoln
Crown Court heard that Barber had 16 previous convictions dating back
to 1993 for offences including deception, fraud and burglary.
Recorder
Gareth Evans QC told him: ‘You chose vulnerable victims. You moved from
one victim to another when the money ran out. It was just a way of
living for you.
‘You set out the bait. They took the bait and you then took their money, their dignity and their self-respect.
‘They would be left by the side of the road as you drove off to your next victim. It beggars belief.’
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Sentencing: The judge at Lincoln Crown Court gave the 'conman' almost five years in prison for his fraud
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