Fake housing agent cheated '˜frail' couple's daughter out of £4,500

Sociology researcher Lee Wilson, 52, posed as an agent from a property management company posting an advert for a home to rent on Gumtree.

Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court heard how the daughter of the frail couple responded, desperate to get them into a new home as they had been using a swimming pool for showers while their house had no heating and hot water.

But after handing over a £160 cash deposit on July 30, and transferring £4,390 on August 7 in exchange for the keys for the home, she was horrified to later find they did not work in the locks, prosecutor Giles Fletcher said.

In a statement read in court, the daughter told how she had to quit her teaching training degree to provide for her family after dad-of-two Wilson’s fraud.

‘My family was in a bad position, we were living in a property without hot water and no heating,’ she said.

‘We had to visit the local swimming pool for showers.

‘My parents were finding it difficult to find a property.’

She said she was ‘pretty forward putting my life-savings forward’ but had nothing to show for the ‘trauma’ of the fraud and its impact.

Ordering Wilson to pay £5,550 compensation, chairman of the magistrates’ bench Dr Paul Chard-Tuckey said: ‘The part of this that really concerns us is the amount of money outstanding, and that should be given your highest priority.’

Magistrates imposed a 20-week prison sentence suspended for a year with 80 hours’ unpaid work with an £85 victim surcharge.

Shamed Wilson, of Aylesbury Road, Fratton, admitted two charges of fraud by false representation.

The court heard he is due to graduate with his sociology PhD in November having already completed his studies.

Probation officer Colin Crawford told magistrates Wilson had poor mental health after being assaulted by his nephew when he got into debt staying at his brother’s home.

‘He was beaten up by his nephew, his brother’s son, as he owed his brother a substantial amount of money,’ he said.

Simon Moger, for Wilson, said he made admissions to police when he was interviewed and pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Wilson, who has no previous convictions and is now living with his son, is receiving treatment from a consultant psychiatrist.

‘He struggles to understand why he took the actions that he did,’ the probation worker added.