Conman uses 'fake life' to steal hundreds from Devon women
A conman who duped Exeter and Devon women for money by infiltrating their lives, has pleaded guilty to seven charges of fraud and theft between July and December last year.
Timothy Giles, 46, an unemployed former toilet cleaner, concocted a kaleidoscope of lies, claiming to be an airline pilot, a fire fighter, and a policeman to lure women into trusting him.
The charges he faced included ‘dishonestly making a false representation, namely pretending to be a qualified airline pilot, intending to make a money gain.’
Prosecutor Lindsey Baker said:”The allegation is that he obtained money by pretending to be an airline pilot.” Exeter magistrates court was also told that 46-year-old Giles had previous form of fraudulent deception, from December 2013 when he was convicted of posing as a police officer.
The scale of Giles’ deceits is difficult to believe. After setting up internet relationships with his victims, he groomed them over weeks and months to gain their trust. One victim, a mother of two from Exeter who has asked not to be named, told of a four month relationship with Giles, where he claimed to be a pilot for Quantas, while stealing money from her.
In an interview with the Exeter Express and Echo, she said: “His story was that he was an airline pilot working for Qantas and had been doing so for 10 years. He said his parents lived in Australia where he used to work but he had moved to the company’s English base.
“He then moved to Devon and would stay at mine a lot and leave at silly o’clock to say he was driving back to Heathrow. I now know he was going to see another woman.
“He had details about his job, parents, house and past life. He had a complete life mapped out but it was all just a fabricated mess. He would send me photos of where he was in the world. He would text me his ‘current view’ of a hotel or beach in the Indian Ocean.
“But it was all just downloaded off the internet – just like the photo he initially sent me in a pilot’s uniform.”
Shockingly, Giles even infiltrated family life of his victims. “He kept coming around and worked on getting to know my children, he became very close to my son and they bonded over a love of planes.
“He was here at Christmas and was in all the photos with my children – I thought he was becoming part of the family. I am so angry he has been allowed to do this. I never suspected anything – he seemed so genuine. He had visited my family and told them the same story.
“But he stole £400 from my home and I lent him £200 as he claimed to have left his bank card in a hotel in Australia and couldn’t access his money over Christmas.”
At the same time, Giles, from Blunsdon near Swindon, was seeing another woman in Kingsteignton. Prosecutor for the case, Ms Baker also told how Giles had stolen £320 from a victim he met through a dating agency, and embezzled the money he had ‘raised’ for the Children’s Hospice South West, handing over just £65 of the £190 he had been sponsored.
Miss Baker told the court: “He was targeting vulnerable women while pretending to be someone that he is not. However, Giles’ demeanour at the hearing has been described as ‘jovial’, appearing with a blonde haired woman by his side. He went on to say that he would not be able to appear in court during August because of conflicting holiday plans.
