Wiltshire romance swindler treated his victims like 'human piggy banks'

• Hussain's victim tells how his scam affected her.

A Swindon man who conned women out of more than £200,000 has been jailed.

Sajad Hussain from Swindon stole the money over a seven-year period. A judge at Swindon Crown Court described his behaviour as "sophisticated and coldhearted".

Judge Jason Taylor KC told the court today (8 June) that Hussain had treated his victims like human "piggy banks", leaving deep emotional scars that will be with them forever.

He met his victims on dating websites, gained their trust, struck up relationships with them and then asked them for increasingly large amounts of money.

Hussain had a gambling habit and he lied to his victims about why he needed the money, inventing a father who was injured in a skiing accident and a mother with breast cancer.

One of his victims handed over £50,000, but her suffering was not purely financial.

She said: "I felt really suicidal when I had to tell my family and you know those thoughts of ending your life. It makes me think on a daily basis that I could have really gone that low.

"I was in a really tough place and it's difficult. I have to live with that and it's hard, it's mentally draining.

"It's just so tough, not just the financial side of it - yes, the financial impact is there and I am dealing with that, I have to, I've got no choice, but it's the psychological, it's the mental scars he's left. They're going to be with me for a long time."

Hussain has been jailed for five years and four months.