A CONMAN who targeted grieving families and tried to trick them out of £100,000 has won an appeal to have his sentence reduced.

Simon Paul Delow, who had set himself up as an international investigator, was given a ten-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to ten fraud charges at Durham Crown Court.

But during an appeal, Lord Justice Hickinbottom described the sentence as “entirely out of kilter with the guidelines” and reduced it to six years.

Delow had told his victims he had the skills to find out what happened to three British people who died abroad in unresolved circumstances.

Among those targeted was the family of Andrew Watts, from Durham, who died in France in 2010.

Delow, of Brockworth, Gloucestershire, conned victims out of around £18,000, though he attempted to defraud them of £100,000.

The 49-year-old targeted families through help groups, including Death Abroad You Are Not Alone (DAYNA) and Support After Murder and Manslaughter (SAMM).

Delow had also targeted the families of Andrew Smyth, who died while on holiday in Turkey in 2011, and Claire Martin, who died in Italy in 2012 from several stab wounds to the neck.

When Judge Prince sentenced Delow last year, he said: “This case is unique within my experience within the criminal law in that you cynically and deliberately targeted families who had lost their loved ones abroad, when they were at their most vulnerable, for one reason - to try and financially enrich yourself.

“Most people could probably hardly believe that anyone could have such a cruel attitude towards a fellow human being.”

Delow was still on licence when he was first in touch with Julie Sheppard, mother of Andrew Watts, in 2013, after being given a five-year sentence for theft and fraud in 2008.

Giving his name as Simon D’Gresser, he lied about his background, experience and resources, telling his victims that he had been in the RAF and special forces.

The court in Durham heard he produced fabricated reports and claimed he had gathered evidence in the cases.

In one report, he told Mr Watt’s family that he could have been subject to medical experimentation at a psychiatric hospital in Laval, France and said he had evidence of a police cover-up.

Meanwhile, he told the family of Claire Martin that he had information that two people were to be charged in relation to her murder and also told them that their grandson, who lives in Italy, would be coming to live with them.