A HOMEOWNER who forged his estranged wife’s signature on documents to get cash advances from a mortgage company has been jailed for nine months.

George Fawcett, 64, obtained £30,000 over six months for improvements to the property, but spent some of it on holidays and cars for his new partner.

The council worker was branded “devious and unrepentant” by police, and a judge at Teesside Crown Court described his fraud as “deliberate dishonesty”.

He still maintains he has done nothing wrong, and his barrister, Nigel Soppitt said he may be “delusional” from a brain injury suffered in a beating.

Mr Soppitt said former doorman Fawcett was in a coma for ten days, and added: “Since that time, he has had very many difficulties with recollection.”

But Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC, told him: “You knew perfectly well you had forged that signature. You set about to ensure she got no share.”

The court heard how Mrs Fawcett moved out of the property in Dene Grove, Redcar, but was still a mortgage holder and entitled to half its sale value.

Fawcett told a jury that he “was not going to be taken for a ride again” when claiming to have lost millions of pounds after relationship break-downs.

He even produced photographs of a 2013 cruise that the couple had been on and tried to “hoodwink” the court into believing they were reconciling.

Fawcett claimed they were recent snaps, but Judge Bourne-Arton told the council refuse collector: “The jury saw straight through your pack of lies.”

After the case, Dtective Rachel Graham, from the Cleveland Police fraud investigation team, said: “Mr Fawcett was devious in his actions and did not appear to care about the stress and distress he caused his victim, placing her in an untenable financial position.

“Throughout the legal process, even after conviction, he remained completely unrepentant and did his best to continue the deception.”

Mrs Fawcett, who was in court to read a victim personal statement, said she has been unable to get a mortgage, put on anti-depressants by her doctor, and has been left mistrusting everyone and unable to sleep.

“I have found myself constantly feeling worried, stressed out, betrayed, hurt,” she said. “The last couple of years have been like a living hell.”

Fawcett was unanimously found guilty of fraud by misrepresentation for gain, and the use of an article for fraud after a two-day trial last month.