Man who conned farmer out of £300k gets four and a half years

Michael Smith, 42, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Judge Robin Onions told Smith his actions had caused "enormous harm" to his victim, who lives in the Oswestry area.

The court had heard that he had been tricked into investing £300,000 he had inherited from his father and his uncle into shares, but no certificates ever arrived. None of the money has ever been recovered.

Judge Onions said the money had been taken in two lots of £20,000 and £280,000 in 2008 and 2009.

The court heard that Smith, of Waverley Gardens, Glasgow, had been part of what was described as "a boiler plate operation" in Barcelona and had played a part in defrauding the victim of his money.

Judge Onions said: "The offence for which you were convicted was cynical and dishonest in its inception, remorseless in preparation and cruel in execution, and you played your part in that conspiracy."

He added: "The victim was being contacted by somebody who called himself Nick Lowe using a number which has never been traced, but a number which had links to contacts of yours in Glasgow.

"It is perfectly clear that once it became known he had money that there was a determined attempt over many years to deprive him of his money."

Judge Onions said it was not certain whether Smith was 'Nick Lowe' but added: "You either were Nick Lowe or were very close to him and knew what he was doing."

The court heard that the money was transferred to an account in Andorra, with flight records showing that Smith had flown to Barcelona on the days before it was withdrawn from the bank.

Smith was also found to have contact lists for prospective targets contained on his computer, and a script for encouraging them to invest.

It was also revealed that he had sent an email saying: "God I am good at being bad."