A CONMAN with multiple fake names befriended vulnerable pensioners and a Good Samaritan who helped him through a health crisis so he could scam them out of £20,000, a court heard.

Gary Feeney, 55, stole the identity of his first victim, a woman who let him stay with her at Ambleside home when he fell on hard times, using her personal details to create fraudulent catalogue and finance accounts, prosecutors said.

He later committed similar offences against a 97-year-old Windermere woman and and 89-year-old man in Seascale. Both had dementia.

The defendant, of Casson Road, Workington, admitted eleven frauds against three victims. Further charges alleging that he defrauded his elderly parents in Windermere were laid on the court file.

A Carlisle Crown Court judge said the defendant had been motivated by "pure greed."

Prosecutor Andrew Evans outlined the facts. Feeney’s method was to set up credit accounts using the names of his unsuspecting victims without their knowledge or approval, said Mr Evans.

His first victim was a friend of Feeney. “She met him via a charity singing group called Singing Voices in around 2017,” said Mr Evans. “She knew him by the name Gary Adams but she was also aware that he used the names Gary Hume and Gary Feeney.”

Because he was travelling from his then home in the Scottish Borders, the woman allowed Feeney to stay at her home when he came to Cumbria.

He eventually moved into her home permanently, the woman being aware that Feeney’s father lived in supported accommodation nearby.

Mr Evans said: “She was persuaded to let him live rent free as he had told her he had nowhere else to go. Later, he told her he was unable to work due to ill health. She loaned him a four figure sum, which he told her was to repay rent arrears.

"This remains unpaid.”

In 2021, the woman became aware that an account had been set up in her name with the retailer Next. Letters relating to this were sent to the accommodation where Feeney’s father was living.

Mr Evans said the defendant used the woman’s account to set up six accounts, with credit being extended to a value of £18,197. Among the items bought on credit by Feeney were Playstation games, IT equipment, and TV subscriptions. He also withdrew cash.

In a statement, the woman spoke of the profound impact of the fraud.  

She felt she knew Feeney well but he repaid her support for him through his ill health by exploiting and manipulating her, stealing her identity for personal gain. “He then refused to admit what he had done,” said the woman.

“I felt extremely vulnerable at the time and worried that the police would think I was involved in some way.”

She had sleepless nights worrying that Feeney would try to implicate her. Referring to her “turmoil of emotion”, which included anxiety and depression, the woman said she no longer trusted people as easily as she once had.

She added: “I’d been happy in Ambleside, but I sold my house and moved out of the area … giving up what I have known for such a long time. I felt that was the only way I could try to move forward after what happened.”

The second victim was a neighbour of Feeney’s parents in Windermere.  Aged 97 and diagnosed with dementia, the woman's carers became aware that Feeney was intercepting parcels sent to her property.

They later discovered that the defendant had set up another Next account in the pensioner’s name. Police discovered fraudulently obtained goods that included wine.

Unemployed Feeney had also taken the lease on offices at Highgate, Kendal and when police raided it they found it “full of boxes,” and there were numerous soft furnishing.

The final victim was the 89-year-old Seascale man, targeted after Feeney had to leave Ambleside because his earlier frauds had been discovered. Despite being under police investigation, Feeney befriended the widower.

They bonded over shared cups of tea at each other’s homes.

It later emerged that the defendant set up a Freemans catalogue account in his neighbour’s name, and other accounts, ordering items such as jogging bottoms, a £700 Acer computer, and bed linen. Feeney used the man’s details to set up four accounts.

Mr Evans said the defendant had previous convictions for theft from his employer, obtaining property by deception in Herefordshire; a fraud in Arbroath in 2008; and two assaults in Jedburgh in 2018.

The latest frauds, added the barrister, involved the creation of multiple fake email accounts and the befriending of clearly vulnerable victims.

Charlotte Phillips, defending, said deteriorating eyesight had led to Feeney losing his job. “Prior to the pandemic, things were going well for him,” said the barrister.

“But he found himself in financial difficulties. He had been managing the singing group at Ambleside and doing well but fell on hard times. He was able to live off funds he had accumulated until that time.”

Miss Phillips said Feeney’s failing eyesight had left him experiencing low mood and feeling “angry sometimes at the world in general.” He had also now lost his parents during the pandemic and now had no family support, she said.

Judge Michael Fanning said Feeney had exploited the trust of his first victim, leaving her so shaken that she had left the home she had lived in for 13 years.

The judge described his behaviour as "shameless scamming of elderly vulnerable people."

Referring to the probation background report, the judge said: “You displayed limited empathy for your victims.”

He had also minimised his crimes and indulged in victim blaming.

Jailing Feeney for three years and three months, the judge told him: “You knew exactly what you were doing. This was motivated by pure greed.”