Fraudster threatened to kill veteran, 92, after stealing £27,000 from his bank account

The pensioner had reached out to the conman after he saw him looking depressed near his church.

A fraudster who conned a 93-year-old veteran out of thousands of pounds has been jailed.

Scott Hanson, 35, stole £27,000 from pensioner John Rainford after lying about his situation to have him pay for a deposit on a flat and a driving licence.

When the pensioner grew suspicious the thug told him: ‘If you call the police I will kill you.’

Prosecutor Gerard Rogerson described how on August 12 last year devout Christian Mr Rainford reached out to Hanson after spotting him near in his church in Cockermouth, Cumbria, appearing ‘depressed’ and in a ‘low way’.

Over the next three months the gambling addict cynically exploited the pensioner and then bullied and threatened him to cover up his crime, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Mr Rainford had initially offered to pay Hanson’s rail fare back to Burnley but after getting his number the fraudster continued to ask for money.

He told him he needed cash to for several things, including a deposit on a flat, a forklift truck licence.

Hanson, from Hartlepool, also persuaded Mr Rainford to pay for accommodation in Lockerbie.

The scam was exposed after the two banks used by the pensioner intervened, and police were alerted.

It later emerged that in September and October, Hanson, from Hartlepool, spent £24,282 of his money at his local bookies, winning back £17,000.

Mr Rainford spoke of the impact of the crime, saying: ‘I believed it was my Christian duty to approach him and make him feel welcome.’

He added: ‘Since this incident.

‘I have questioned whether I should be so open in speaking to others, it’s made me question whether they are taking advantage of me.

‘I feel sad he could do this to me and I now realise that I was targeted and taken advantage of that day.’

The money he lost would have been left to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He said: ‘I am now scared to touch my money because of how little I have left of it.’

Hanson, 35, admitted a single count of fraud and was jailed for 30 months.

Chris Evans, for Hanson, said the defendant had expressed remorse and was now motivated to tackle his gambling addiction, which underlies this and other previous offences.

Passing sentence, Judge James Adkin told Hanson: ‘You committed a mean offence when you gained the trust of a 92-year-old man who took pity on you.

‘Between August 19 and October 25, you manipulated him, and occasionally bullied him, and he paid over to you some £27,000.

‘You lied about the fact that you were down on your luck and impoverished.’