'Fantasist' fraudster jailed for savings theft

A "fantasist" fraudster who conned an 84-year-old woman out of her £22,000 life savings has been jailed for four years.

John Kavanagh, 58, began a relationship with a woman he met online and then defrauded her mother with lies he needed money to fund his fictional haulage company, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Police also found he had contacted and got engaged to multiple other women through dating sites and told "outlandish" lies to get money.

Kavanagh, from Cramlington, Northumberland, initially denied any offending but then admitted fraud.

The court heard his ex-partner and her mother, who have both since died, expressed fears over the impact his crimes would have on their health.

Kavanagh, who had more than 100 offences on his criminal record, including multiple counts of dishonesty, theft and fraud, met the woman on a dating website in November 2019, prosecutor Jane Foley said.

He soon began to tell her his large haulage firm, Kavanagh KC Transport Ltd, was having financial difficulties, with the woman going on to lend him about £1,222 over the following seven months.

Although he had registered a company by that name, it was entirely "mythical" and did not exist, the court heard.

The woman's 84-year-old mother also agreed to lend him money and in total he got £22,300 out of her, leaving less than £250 in her savings account, the court heard.

Ms Foley said Kavanagh, of Abingdon Square, was a "fantasist" who told a "pack of lies" and "outlandish stories" to people in an attempt to take money from them.

He and the woman got engaged but he ended their relationship after she told him her mother had no money left, the court heard.

When he was arrested, he told police he had intended to repay the older woman, whom he "loved to bits".

Investigations of his phone found while he was in a relationship with the woman, he had contacted numerous other women on dating sites and told them his "ridiculous stories" too, Ms Foley said.

"He would often ask them to marry him while making promises he was unable or unwilling to keep," the prosecutor said.

Kavanagh's ex-partner died in December 2022, and her mother the following September, while waiting for the case to conclude.

However, both made victim impact statements, with the woman saying she feared the effect his crimes would have on her and her mother's health.

She said she was "very angry" and the theft of her mother's savings had been "heartbreaking", adding she felt "physically sick" and responsible for bringing Kavanagh into their lives.

Her mother said she was shocked and had lent Kavanagh the money in "good faith".

She said his crimes had left her feeling "very vulnerable" and "scared".

In mitigation, the court heard the serial liar was "very sorry" and wished he could pay the money back, but he did not have the means to do so.

Judge Gavin Doig said it was "difficult to think of more shameful offending" and Kavanagh was a "thoroughly dishonest man who cares not at all for the damage he causes and leaves behind".

The judge said: "I am only sorry [the two victims] are not here to see you receive the punishment you deserve today."

A proceeds of crime hearing is due to be held next year.

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