'Suicidal' con artist duped Wakefield church worker out of £16,000 with fabricated sob story
A fraudster concocted an elaborate story to swindle thousands of pounds from a sympathetic church worker, who put him up in a hotel and then paid for an apartment.
Steven Phillips was told by a judge at Leeds Crown Court this week that telling lies had become a “way of life”.
The 44-year-old was jailed after admitting a charge of fraud by false representation.
The victim was working as a volunteer at church in the Wakefield area when he received a call from Phillips at the start of August last year.
Phillips gave him a false name and told the man he was feeling suicidal. He then began to tell the man that he was a floor worker who had been helping a family in the area with an autistic child.
He told him he was owed £26,000 from the job, but the family could not pay him for another three months. He said he was left with no money and his bank account had been frozen.
He kept saying he was planning to kill himself and asked where the nearest river was, so he could throw himself in.
The victim eventually met with Phillips and drove him to a Premier Inn where he paid for him to stay for four nights.
Phillips also told the man he needed money for food. Incredibly, he then persuaded the victim to pay for an apartment for him to stay at “while he worked in the area”.
He also told other lies such as his wife being in hospital and that he himself had an autistic daughter.
The overall amount he owed to the man came to £16,427, which he promised to pay back, but never did.
The police were eventually called and Phillips was arrested in October last year.
He was found in possession of multiple credit cards in various names and gave the police several different names before confessing to his own.
He has multiple previous convictions for fraud offences, including gaining property by deception and fraud by false representation.
The court heard that he was also facing other similar charges at another court in Wales.
He appeared in court this week via video link from HMP Leeds where he has been held on remand since his arrest last year.
Little mitigation was offered by his barrister Chris Moran after the judge said he would pass a sentence that would mean his immediate release.
However, Mr Moran did say that Phillips, of no fixed address, had little to show for his ill-gotten gains, and it was heard that he often spent whatever cash he had in an effort to impress women.
The judge, Recorder Mark McKone KC told Phillips it was a “mean” offence and added: “You told many sensitive lies and you also pretended to be suicidal, intended for him to give you more money.
“You have had a lifetime of fraud and telling lies, it has become a way of life for you.”
He jailed him for 21 months, but with Phillips having been held on remand since October last year, it means he had served the equivalent of a 26-month sentence, given that prisoners are usually released at the half-way stage.
As a result, his release would be imminent.
A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) timetable was set which will see Phillips possibly return to court next year to determine if or how he can pay back the money.