Conman jailed for stealing £50,000 from Shropshire pensioner, 86
A conman has been jailed for three and a half years after stealing more than £50,000 from an 86-year-old man.
Over a period of seven years Lamin Conteh, 43, took a total of £58,452, from the vulnerable pensioner, who lived in the Craven Arms area.
Shrewsbury Crown Court was told the victim had been forced to move out of his home, and is now living in a care home.
In a victim impact statement the man said the theft had "taken away my self respect" and "broken my trust in human nature".
The court heard that Conteh, a Swedish national, had convinced his victim that he was paying into an insurance scheme based in Sweden that would pay out up to £178,000.
The scheme was completely fictitious and the court heard that Conteh, from Carroll Crescent, Coventry, had been using the money to fund an online gambling habit.
Mrs Raquel Simpson, prosecuting, said £54,970 had been taken in cash transfers to Conteh's Nationwide bank account.
The court was also told that Conteh had also used the victim's bank card to order items from Amazon without his consent. The fraud had taken place from 2008 to 2015.
The victim spoke of the impact of the crime in a statement read out by Mrs Simpson.
He said: "No matter what he is sentenced it won't be good enough even if it is life because I have lost everything."
Sentencing, Judge Jim Tindal, told Conteh: "Over seven years you systematically and repeatedly abused the trust of this man."
