Man jailed for conning women in barrister scam

One of Britain's most notorious swindlers was jailed for three years today after posing as the country's top lawyer to target vulnerable women.

Paul "King Con" Bint, who has spent a lifetime worming his way into the hearts and homes of the opposite sex, wined and dined victims contacted through lonely hearts ads or the internet.

Throughout his latest campaign of deceit, the unlikely-looking Lothario sported all the trappings of a successful barrister.

The 47-year-old failed hairdresser told some of his "conquests" he was Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keir Starmer QC, while another thought he was a barrister called Jonathan Rees.

He boasted of owning a fleet of luxury cars including one used in the James Bond film Goldeneye, that he had socialised with former 007 star Pierce Brosnan, was friends with singer Robbie Williams, and had once been married to British comedy actress Sarah Alexander.

Northampton-born Bint, also dubbed "The King of the Swindlers" and "The Human Chameleon", went on to invent various homes, including a riverside penthouse, and claimed his parents were judges.

He even promised one of the women a holiday for two in the Caribbean, London's Southwark Crown Court heard.

Yet when he realised he had a rival for her affections, he scrawled "bitch" on the side of her home, and blamed the other man who he claimed had repeatedly assaulted an ex-girlfriend. He then convinced her to dump him.

By the time his victims realised who Bint was, he had misused a credit card belonging to one of them and stolen a valuable bracelet from another.

The fraudster - once likened to Frank Abagnale Jr in Catch Me If You Can and described by a real barrister as making "Walter Mitty look like a nine o'clock news reader" - confessed in court to a 30-year criminal career.

It began when he was a child and features not only 155 previous convictions, but 350 other offences taken into consideration.

Most involved impersonation - wealthy hotelier, aristocrat, ballet dancer, banker, doctor, playboy, police officer and property magnate - and saw thousand of pounds of cash and property stolen.

Apart from conning his way into hospitals and actually treating patients, he also used his lies to flirt with Koo Stark, and impress a former Miss Edinburgh while posing as a lawyer.

Bint, of no fixed address, who denied any wrongdoing and claimed this time he had genuinely been looking for love, was convicted of five offences committed between 27 April and 5 May.

Two were for fraud by false representation - cheating a taxi driver of a £60 fare and using a credit card belonging to one of his women victims.

Another was for stealing the bracelet, walking off with a barrister's laptop after burgling the robing room at St Albans Crown Court, and test-driving a £59,000 Audi R8 while disqualified.