War vet con artist jailed

A FRAUDSTER who claimed to have raised £500,000 for the Help For Heroes military charity from a 10,500-mile walk starting in the Capital has been jailed for 16 months.

Matthew Brown, 34, claimed he was a war veteran helicopter pilot who had rescued 88 comrades on one of his six tours of Afghanistan.

The 34-year-old, who had previously claimed he was from Edinburgh but actually lived in Inverness, also claimed he had served in Bosnia, Iraq and Northern Ireland.

Brown was arrested as he was walking around the coast of Cornwall. He claimed he had raised 500,000 from celebrities and the public, even though Help For Heroes has not received a penny.

He admitted fraud and was jailed for 16 months at Truro Crown Court yesterday.