Judge sends 'cold, calculating and callous' conman to jail for 6 years

A RUTHLESS conman who stole more than £150,000 from vulnerable women and left their lives in ruins has been jailed for six years and four months.

One of private investigator Kenneth Tait's four victims, nurse Lesley Munro, went to court to see him sentenced on her 54th birthday. She was put under such pressure by Tait that she was forced to sell her home.

"I am relieved," she said. "He literally stole everything. I am here for all the other victims. It is a brilliant outcome. Yes, I have lost my house, I have lost everything, but he has got justice now."

Lord Tyre told Tait, 44, he would have faced an eight-year sentence had he not pleaded guilty. The judge said he took into account the length of time over which he perpetrated his crimes and the determination with which he pursued them and the severe effect on the victims.

"The degree of cold, calculated callousness which you exhibited to these women, who looked to you for friendship and love, is shocking," he said, at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Tait, of Littlehills Close, Archer Park, Manchester, admitted carrying out three frauds and a theft in the Edinburgh area and at Glencarse, Perth, between 2000 and 2007. He admitted the offences at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, but was sent to the High Court because Sheriff Elizabeth Jarvie QC believed the maximum five-year sentence she could impose was insufficient.

The sheriff said: "The offences were shocking, calculated and predatory frauds perpetrated by him over prolonged periods of time, on a number of ladies, often at very vulnerable stages of their lives.

"His conduct has resulted in the lives of a number of victims being left in ruins at ages when it is unlikely they will be in a position to recover financially."

The court heard Tait at first appeared "charming, affable and very supportive" of the women, including some who had left unhappy relationships.

However, once he gained their trust he began "a ruthless campaign to get funds" using emotional blackmail, claiming he was in danger or ill, or by offering financial incentives alleging he had lucrative investment opportunities.

Sometimes he used both tactics firstly emptying the his victims' coffers and then offering them a chance at an investment that could "sort everything out".

The court heard he appeared to wield huge influence over some victims and had no qualms about leaving them "financially and emotionally wrecked".

Tait also conned human resources consultant Alison Urquhart, 48, out of 15,568 over a seven-year period. Midwife Pamela Wade, 45, lost 30,000, and Carolyn Shields was conned out of 5,500. David Nicholson, defending, said the "utterly appalling" crimes were committed because Tait was living beyond his means.