A conman has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after scamming an elderly Mid Wales couple out of their £200,000 life-savings.

Garry Roberts, 41, who has previous convictions for scamming people, befriended the couple and got them to give him loans which he never repaid. Roberts, of Salop Road, Welshpool, persuaded them to invest in a fictitious bank which he said paid high interest.

He said it was used by stars such as Cilla Black and Bruce Forsyth.

At Mold Crown Court yesterday, Judge John Rogers QC heard how the whole thing was made up to con the couple out of their savings. The court heard Roberts spent the cash on buying friendships and socialising.

Judge Rogers said that he had cruelly duped an elderly couple who had worked hard all their lives. He said the fraud was aggravated by his previous convictions.

Roberts had admitted six fraud charges at a previous hearing.

Mr Gareth Roberts, prosecuting, said the defendant managed to befriend the couple from Llanymynech in August 2009 and what appeared to be an innocent friendship built up and he spent time with them.

“They were completely unaware that he was a conman and over the course of the next year he conned them into handing over a large amount of their savings, £203,000, as well as taking other amounts in the form of loans,” Mr Roberts said.

Roberts claimed his father had an account called Gold Account Ireland with a nine per cent interest rate and falsely claimed that celebrities held the accounts.

In January 2010, the couple were persuaded to open up a “gold account” with £50,000. He later persuaded them to hand over a further £50,000. By August of last year the husband became suspicious and discovered there was no such bank. After his arrest, Roberts claimed he had conned the couple in order to pay drug dealers.

Mr Oliver King, for Roberts, said that his client had low self-esteem and used the money to buy friendships.

By Andrew Morris