Man in MI5 agent con to appeal

Robert Hendy-Freegard, 36, nicknamed "The Puppetmaster", is appealing against his conviction.

Hendy-Freegard callously commandeered the lives of a string of victims during a decade-long charade.

They were forced to carry out bizarre "missions", in fear of his explosive temper and claims IRA assassins were stalking their every move. At least two contemplated suicide.

Hendy-Freegard, who formerly worked at The Swan pub in Newport, conned former Harper Adams agricultural college students Sarah Smith and John Atkinson into believing his wild fantasies.

Mr Atkinson, one of two men said to have fallen prey to Hendy-Freegard's powers of persuasion, handed over £300,000 himself.

While his victims suffered and became virtual slaves, their conman tormentor used the cash he had ordered them to beg and borrow to fund a luxury life, the trial heard.

Hendy-Freegard, an ex-car salesman, of Blyth, Nottinghamshire, was jailed at Blackfriars Crown Court in London in September 2005 after being convicted of 20 charges of theft, deception and "kidnapping by fraud" between 1993 and 2003 following an eight-month trial.

Judge Deva Pillay described him as an "egotistical confidence trickster" and said he should not be considered for parole before March 2013.

Today, Hendy-Freegard's lawyers will ask three Court of Appeal judges - headed by the Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips - to rule that the convictions were unsafe.