‘I’m not gullible ... I’m a bright, successful woman, but everything he did made sense’

10:40am Thursday 3rd July 2008

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CRAIG Taylor was sentenced to six years in jail for his part in an elaborate scam.

Here, one of his victims tells her story.

"His job was very secretive with lots of phone calls and people coming to the house and he worked strange hours which all added to it."

Victim

'I met him through the Internet in October 2006. My mum had died that summer and I had just been made redundant. I was vulnerable.

He revealed that he worked for MI5, which was strange he told me that.

His job was very secretive with lots of phone calls and people coming to the house and he worked strange hours which all added to it.

I introduced him to my family and friends and they all took to him because he had this really charismatic personality. People warmed to him. He was a very believable character.

But not one ounce of anything he told me was true.

He used to bring me flowers all the time, teddy bears and things. It was so over the top it was a bit claustrophobic actually. He bought me 15 presents for Christmas.

He proposed to me, but I never saw a ring.

There was this massive web of information that he wove. I’m not gullible, I’m a bright, successful woman, but everything he did made sense.

He would drop something into the conversation one day and go back to it a few days later.

I did challenge him on it all, many times, but he would produce things, documents, to prove it.

In November I went away with my dad and Frank asked to borrow some money.

Because he had always been so generous I gave him my cash card. He said he needed £200 but he took £1,600 and told me he was being blackmailed.

Then it was Boxing Day and he insisted we go out for a drink. We were meant to be going to Switzerland the next day.

While we were out my house got burgled, jewellery that my mum gave me, laptop, passport, it was all gone. The way he reacted raised my suspicions.

While we were out he kept rushing to the toilet and kept checking his phone. It was quite obvious that he was in contact with someone while we were there.

When we got back he was screaming and shouting and then he took my car and went out. I wonder now if he went to meet the burglar.

Once the police got there he was really excited like a little child, rambling on, rushing around, showing them things and pointing. It was as if he was revelling in it. He seemed to have this fascination with doing things under their nose.

A couple of days later I walked into Stockton Heath police station and told them everything.

The police said they have never met anyone as complex as him and I doubt they ever will again.

He could put on a very good show because he’d perfected it over so many years. He wore a suit and carried a briefcase, he made it so believable.

By the time the police told me the truth I wasn’t surprised. I just felt sorry for his wife and I felt stupid and embarrassed.

The fact he’s in prison and I helped put him there gives me satisfaction, but the sentence should have been longer. He’ll be out in two and a half years.

He will do this again when he comes out. He spent nine months in prison just before I met him and that didn’t stop him.