A SUCCESSION of women were duped into handing money to a serial fraudster who preyed on their vulnerability, a court heard.

Andy Clark, who met several of his victims through online dating sites, came up with a variety of stories over why he was desperate for money, but pledged he would be able to eventually pay them back, as he expected to fall into money in due course.

Some took out loans to meet his requests, while he also plundered a trust fund set up to meet one women’s personal injury claim.

Durham Crown Court heard although he made some repayments to one of his victims, they dried up, and in total he fleeced them of £80,000, almost £50,000 of it from one woman alone.

Jonathan Walker, prosecuting, said some of his crimes overlapped as he maintained “relations” with more than one woman at a time, often using different names.

Gradually,, they realised they were being conned and police became involved.

When he was interviewed he largely made no comment, although he did admit drawing up a repayment plan with one of the women, but he denied stopping making those payments.

Mr Walker read extracts from the impact statement of one of the women targeted by Clark, who spoke of her “devastation” as she had not realised she was the victim of fraud for more than a year.

She said: “I’m very trusting and take people at face value. I believed him, and he’s taken advantage of my trust.”

The woman said she had suffered life-changing spinal injuries and her trust fund was her “nest-egg”, which Clark plundered.

Clark, 43,of Malvern Crescent, Darlington, admitted five counts of fraud.

The court heard he has similar offences on his record, one of which led to him being jailed for 18 months at Stoke on Trent Crown Court.

Michael Cahill, mitigating, said: “Unfortunately, he has a gambling addiction and the money he took he effectively squandered, having led a law-abiding, hard-working life up to his mid-30s.”

Jailing him for six years, Recorder Euan Duff told Clark: “This offending represent a course of conduct in which you targeted vulnerable women in order to defraud them.”

Clark will now be subject of crime proceeds inquiries.