A FRAUDSTER has been sent to prison for two years after conning a pensioner out of almost £20,000.

David William Connor, 57, of Green Lane, Wetherby, pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud after befriending an 88-year-old widower from Harrogate and over 16 months stole £18,450 from him.

Connor received a sentence of two years and three months at York Crown Court on Friday, October 5.

A family friend raised the alarm, after the victim found himself in financial hardship following the purchase of a campervan from Connor in May 2015. Investigating officers found Connor had convinced the elderly man to buy a 1989 Ford Transit campervan from him for a vastly inflated sum, overcharging him by £10,000.

Further investigations found that between September 2014 and December 2015 the victim had written a series of cheques to Connor which totalled nearly £9,000.

When questioned about the other payments, Connor replied that they had been for extensive work he had carried out at the victims home address. When the work was assessed by an independent professional, it was found to be minimal and estimated to have cost a few thousand pounds.

The Proceeds of Crime Act has now been enacted to seize Connor’s assets, to refund the victim of the money taken from him.