Duped lover fears she '˜will be dead' before she gets money owed

A DUPED lover who was swindled out of nearly £12,500 by a former soldier who claimed he was an M15 agent has hit out at a court ruling, saying she '˜will be dead' by the time she gets her money back.
Alastair Gordon outside court in 2015Alastair Gordon outside court in 2015
Alastair Gordon outside court in 2015

Alastair Gordon, 39, has managed to pay back only £180.10 of the £12,491.04 he has owed since October 2015 after blaming an article in the The News for highlighting how he conned the woman —which he said had resulted in him being repeatedly sacked from jobs since.

After appearing at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Gordon was ordered to pay his victim back £10 a fortnight starting on March 10 — a decision that left the 40-year-old woman frustrated.

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The former Royal Artillery gunner at Baker Barracks in Thorney Island, said The News had ruined his life after he had been sacked from the army and let go by a number of gyms following his attempts to forge a career as a personal trainer.

Gordon —who was given a two-year jail term suspended for two years with 100 hours unpaid work in 2015 — struck up the relationship with the woman he met on a dating website.

During their relationship she gave him around £6,000 after he promised a family member could carry out cosmetic surgery on her stomach. The surgery never happened.

He also persuaded her to sign up to a £6,000 credit agreement for a motorbike — which he then sold for cash to pay off debts.

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The victim became suspicious of Gordon when she received a £1,500 phone bill when he left the country to go to Canada.

Her horror was then compounded when after contacting numbers on the bill she discovered there were a number of Canadian women who had also been duped into thinking they were in a relationship with Gordon.

When the Gosport woman confronted Gordon and demanded her money back after ending their relationship, the former soldier turned on the woman and chillingly warned she would be ‘got rid of’ if she tried to claim her money back.

Gordon, who appeared before magistrates over the non-payment of his £500 monthly fine, pleaded for a previous article by The News to be taken down to help him pay back the money.

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Gordon, of Penk Ridge, Havant, also claimed he may only have two or three years left to live after a lung condition that was similar to recently deceased celebrity Keith Chegwin.

‘The only option, therefore, is for the article to be taken down so I can pay the money back,’ he said.

He continued: ‘A few months ago I started struggling to breathe and have a notch on my lung that could be a Keith Chegwin-style condition.

‘I might only have two or three years left to live. This has not been confirmed by doctors but is something I’m aware of and leaving up to the doctors. I’m the unfittest instructor in the south.’

Speaking outside court, Gordon’s victim said: ‘It’s a disappointing rate he has to pay the money back at — I think I’ll be dead before I get it all back as that will work out as about 40 years.’