Newcastle doctor conned out of thousands: "It was so calculated. It was so practiced"
A woman who was conned out of thousands of pounds by a man she met on an online dating website, is urging others who think they might be a victim of fraud to speak out.
Newcastle doctor Liz Todd, who is 28, met a man who called himself Christopher Smith online.
He told her he was a barrister and was well paid - and had investments and property as well.
At first, Liz said he seemed 'completely normal', and admitted she has struggled to come to terms with the fact that this happened to her.
The man she had met online was in fact 34-year-old Christopher Heayns from Blyth.
The deception: What Christopher Heayns did to get his hands on £150,000
Said he had a £6 million pound property portfolio
Showed fake documents to back up his story
Said he was waiting for fund to mature and asked her to rent an expensive flat in her name - and pay the £2,400 monthly rent.
Hired builders to renovate the luxury flat - spending £40,000 in the process
He took out 5 credit cards in her name and ran up bills of £50,000
Also convinced Liz's Mum to lend him £80,000
In total, Liz was tricked out of £150,000
Liz Todd - speaking exclusively to Good Morning Britain, said none of her friends or family were suspicious - and she had no idea the man she thought was Christopher Smith was also asking her Mum to lend him money.
At first, he paid for everything when they began dating, and really 'swept her off her feet'.
She said she had no reason to be suspicious - explaining that when she DID leave him, it was because she found out he was cheating on her.
How the lies unfolded
In December 2013, one of the builders who was doing work on the Sandoe Hall saw a Christmas card at the property addressed to Christopher Poulton. He became suspicious when the name didn't match and googled it.
He found a series of news articles from 2008 about a con-man who had been jailed for fraud offences. He flagged this up with Liz - and she confronted him about it.
He said he had been accused of the offences by a rival barrister but cleared on appeal.
He stressed that he wouldn't be able to be working as a barrister now if he was a criminal, and Liz continued to drop him off at various court locations across the country where he said he was working.
In early 2014 the couple eventually split, and Heayns promised the woman he would repay all of the money owed.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, Inspector Michelle Robson from Northumbria Police who worked on the case, said people need to take certain precautions when meeting people online - including not getting into joint financial commitments or arrangements straight away.
What happened next?
After months and months of excuses about why Christopher Heayns couldn't pay Liz back, she reported him to police.
The investigation was launched into him, and the more officers dug into his past the more evidence of fraudulent behaviour, deceit and lying they found.
On August 15, 2015, he was charged with 14 fraud related offences and remanded in custody.
Heayns appeared at Newcastle Crown Court on February 8 where he pleaded not guilty but after a two week trial he was found guilty of four counts of fraud offences and seven counts of insovlency act offences.
On Wednesday, July 20, he was sentenced to nine-and-a-half years prison.