A fake British spy, whose shocking crimes were exposed in a hit Netflix show, has been jailed for six years in France after he conned £1million out of five people.

Robert Hendy-Freegard, 53, a notorious conman who once posed as an MI5 agent, was sentenced on Thursday in Guéret, central France, after a dramatic attempt to evade capture in August 2022.

The master manipulator, who was the subject of The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman and inspired the film Rogue Agent, had been living under a false identity in a remote French village, running an illegal dog-breeding operation.

Hendy-Freegard first rose to infamy in 2005, when he was convicted in the UK of kidnapping, deception, and fraud.

He convinced a series of highly respectable women he was an undercover MI5 agent and they were IRA targets because they knew him, with several of his victims living in hiding for years on end.

As he became more confident, Hendy-Freegard controlled up to five victims at a time, keeping them in various ‘safe houses’ around the country and using a mixture of charm and menace to keep them under his spell.

His crimes always began in the same way. He would meet victims on social occasions or as customers in the pub or car dealership where he was working.

He would later reveal his ‘role’ as an undercover agent for MI5, Special Branch or Scotland Yard working against the IRA. He would win them over, ask for money and make them do his bidding.  

Hendy-Freegard, who is dubbed ‘The Puppet Master’ because of the control he exercised over his victims, was jailed in the UK in 2005 for kidnap by fraud, theft and obtaining money by deception

He became the subject of a Netflix documentary which aired in 2022

He became the subject of a Netflix documentary which aired in 2022 

His tactics were chilling – he brainwashed his victims, cut them off from their families, and drained them of their life savings.

According to court evidence, he convinced seven women and a man that he was an MI5 agent protecting them from the IRA and forced them to hand over up to £1million in cash. 

Sentenced to life in prison, he walked free in 2009 after his kidnapping conviction was overturned on appeal – because coercive control was not yet recognised as a criminal offence.

By 2015, Hendy-Freegard had resurfaced in France, settling in the tiny village of Vidaillat under a new identity.

Locals noticed something strange – a pale, withdrawn woman, later identified as Sandra Clifton, was always at the house, never leaving or speaking to anyone, while Hendy-Freegard frequently disappeared for long periods.

Neighbours, many of them retirees, began digging into his past and were horrified to discover his criminal record.

‘We recognised him from the Netflix documentary,’ one local told AFP.

They repeatedly alerted authorities, but police said they couldn’t intervene because Clifton had not made a complaint.

By 2022, the situation had come to a head.

Hendy-Freegard poses for the camera following his conviction for kidnap and deception, June 23, 2005 at Blackfriars Crown Court in London

Hendy-Freegard poses for the camera following his conviction for kidnap and deception, June 23, 2005 at Blackfriars Crown Court in London

Clifton’s children, who had publicly begged for her return in the Netflix series, flew to France to stage an intervention – helped by concerned neighbours and local officials.

Under the guise of an animal welfare investigation, authorities began removing the illegally bred beagles from the property, hoping it would convince Clifton to leave.

But as the last of the dogs was being loaded into a rescue truck, Hendy-Freegard suddenly appeared in his car.

A witness recalled: ‘Police started questioning him, but he still had the keys in the ignition. He suddenly turned on the engine and sped off – hitting two officers as he fled.’

The injured officers were rushed to hospital, while Hendy-Freegard managed to escape across the border into Belgium.

The fugitive was arrested days later in Belgium and extradited back to France, where he has been in custody since October 2022.

On Thursday, a French court sentenced him to six years in prison, rejecting his claims that he ‘panicked’ and didn’t mean to hit the officers.

State prosecutor Alexandra Pethieu dismissed his excuses, describing his actions as ‘an appalling scene worthy of ‘Mad Max’.’

Meanwhile, Sandra Clifton has since returned to Britain, finally free from the man who held her under his spell for years.

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