Fake spy guilty of kidnapping con

[muriel_volestrangler]

A former bartender has been found guilty of kidnapping and theft in an elaborate spy con that lasted 10 years.
...
The court heard his first two victims were "kidnapped by fraud" - one of the few times such an offence has been successfully prosecuted - by claiming terrorists were on their trail.

Hendy-Freegard convinced them to abandon their college studies, betray their wealthy farming families and "jettison their self-respect".
...
In the process he drained them of every penny they could beg, borrow or earn, leaving several either in debt, or with zero credit ratings.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4114640.stm

Weird - and frightening how many people he seems to have been able to do this to.

[acmavm]

1. Too weird...

<snip>
Robert Hendy-Freegard, 34, of Blyth, Nottinghamshire, conned his victims out of a potential £1m by persuading them they were being hunted by the IRA.

Blackfriars Crown Court heard he forced his victims to endure squalid lives and made them perform loyalty tests.

He denied all 24 charges, but was convicted of two counts of kidnap, ten of theft and eight of deception.
<snip>

What could he have told them to make them believe the IRA was after them? Did they have some kind of connection to the IRA or were these people just sort of 'slow' (for lack of a better word). I mean, ten frigging years? And he took their money? And humiliated them?

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. He's said to be extremely charming and clever

(This comes from what I think I remember of a TV report): 9 of the 10 victims were women, and sex was involved with at least some of them (consensual - he sweet-talked them), and the police said he knew how to find someone's weak points - which he took his time over, spending liberally to get his 'spy' image right with them.