Conned out of £30,000 – for a fake family

Published on Thursday 5 November 2009 21:27

A MAN who made up an entire family and claimed to be fighting for custody of his children to con a workmate out of £30,000 has been jailed for 15 months.

Scottish Water employee Alexander Shields looked for pity from his "nave" workmate Lynn McFarlane by pretending he was embroiled in a custody battle and asked her for money.

She fell for his elaborate domestic nightmare – before it was revealed that he had pretended to have a wife and children simply to dupe her.

The 26-year-old Bathgate man then recklessly gambled the lot without making a penny back. Yesterday at Edinburgh Sheriff Court he blamed a gambling addiction and said he "always intended to give the money back". But Sheriff Neil MacKinnon branded him "dishonest, calculated and callous".

The office temps met while working at Scottish Water's building in Buckstone Terrace, Edinburgh, in January last year. Desperate for cash, Shields targeted Miss McFarlane over three months, feeding her lies to get the money he craved.

He told Miss McFarlane he wanted to leave his wife to be with her, but needed money to pay for lawyers and to pay back loan sharks he claimed were threatening him.

Fooled into thinking Shields was in trouble, Miss McFarlane gave all her money to him, took out loans and even plunged 6,000 into the red.

It was only after three months that Miss McFarlane realised Shields was living a lie, as his made-up family madness grew more far-fetched.

She reported him to police, and in court Shields admitted using a fraudulent scheme to get money between 15 January and 31 March in 2008. His defence agent Peter O'Neill said: "As the friendship grew he felt comfortable enough to ask her for money.

"He didn't always expect to get it, but as an addict does, he kept on going back to the source of money.

"He says he always intended to give it back but was constantly chasing his losses. He thought if he got another 500 everything would be forgotten about, but that never happened."

His imaginary second life got so out of control that Shields had no idea how much money he owed his colleague.