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Conman who posed as lawyer jailed | Conman who posed as lawyer jailed |
(41 minutes later) | |
A conman with a long history of posing as wealthy and important people to win the affections of women has been jailed for three years. | |
Northampton-born Paul Bint, 47 - dubbed "King Con" for his 30-year criminal career - had been convicted of five offences committed in April and May. | |
Southwark Crown Court heard Bint, of no fixed abode, convinced one woman he was the director of public prosecutions. | |
Judge Deborah Taylor said Bint had an "appalling record" and was a "menace". | |
Bint was found guilty last month of five offences committed between 27 April and 5 May. | |
They included two for fraud by false representation, involving cheating a taxi driver out of a £60 fare and using a credit card belonging to one of his female victims. | |
He also stole a bracelet from another woman, walked off with a barrister's laptop after burgling the robing room at St Albans Crown Court and test-drove a £59,000 Audi R8 while disqualified from driving. | He also stole a bracelet from another woman, walked off with a barrister's laptop after burgling the robing room at St Albans Crown Court and test-drove a £59,000 Audi R8 while disqualified from driving. |
Jurors cleared him of seven counts of credit card fraud and four of driving while disqualified, one on the judge's direction. | |
'Violation of homes' | |
During his trial, the court heard Bint confess to a 30-year criminal career that began when he was a child and features not only 155 previous convictions, but 350 other offences taken into consideration. | |
The jury heard he had previously impersonated a wealthy hotelier, an aristocrat, a ballet dancer, a doctor, a police officer and a property magnate, resulting in the theft of thousands of pounds of cash and property. | The jury heard he had previously impersonated a wealthy hotelier, an aristocrat, a ballet dancer, a doctor, a police officer and a property magnate, resulting in the theft of thousands of pounds of cash and property. |
Sentencing Bint on Tuesday, the judge told him: "You misled two women into letting you into their lives and homes, into trusting you and allowing you to stay with them by giving wholly false details about yourself, and then you stole from them. | |
"The effect on both of these women was not merely this loss of the bracelet, DVDs or money, but, as they told the court, the feeling of violation of their homes and perhaps of their peace of mind." | |
The judge added: "You have an appalling record for offences of a very similar nature. | |
"You are clearly a very plausible liar and, as a result, a menace to anyone who comes into contact with you." |