Conman must wait to hear fate

VICTIMS who were fleeced by a ruthless conman will have to wait until later this month to see him sentenced.

Judge Lord Tyre yesterday deferred sentence on fraudster Kenneth Tait, 44, to allow him to read a ten-page letter written by the accused.

Tait, 44, duped a series of women out of a total of 155,229.41, the court heard.

He earlier pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud and one of theft carried out between January 1, 2000 and May 10, 2007 in Edinburgh.

He had originally faced a further 12 charges but his not guilty pleas to these were accepted by the Crown.

He was due to be sentenced at Edinburgh Sheriff Court but Sheriff Elizabeth Jarvie QC remitted the case to the High Court as she did not feel the maximum sentence - five years in custody - would be adequate for Tait's "despicable" crimes.

She blasted him and said: "These offences were shocking, calculated and predatory, perpetrated by you over long periods on a number of ladies, sometimes at very vulnerable periods in their lives. A number of your victims were left in complete ruin."

Fiscal depute Dev Kapadia previously told the court that Tait, of Littlehills Close, Manchester, appeared to target vulnerable women including those who had recently left unhappy relationships.

Mr Kapadia said: "He appeared initially to them as charming, affable and very supportive. Once he gained their trust he then engaged in a ruthless campaign to get funds from them using a combination of emotional blackmail, stating he was in danger or ill or needed or deserved their support." Tait, said the fiscal, appeared to wield huge influence over the women and was described as "a ruthless conman and a cunning, calculating individual.

"He appears to have no qualms about leaving his victims financially and emotionally wrecked."

Tait will be sentenced on July 29.