The partner of a notorious British fraudster who featured in a Netflix documentary before allegedly attempting to murder a policeman was today helping officers trying to track him down.
Sandra Clifton, 49, from Wokingham in Berkshire, is said to have been ‘under the control’ of ‘Puppet Master’ Robert Hendy-Freegard, 51, for the past decade.
Netflix released the documentary series The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman, based on Hendy-Freegard’s deceptions, in January.
But on Saturday Ms Clifton was interviewed by officers as a manhunt for him is underway near their isolated country home in Vidaillat, east of Clermont-Ferrand in central France.
Sandra Clifton, 49, from Wokingham in Berkshire, is said to have been ‘under the control’ of ‘Puppet Master’ Robert Hendy-Freegard, 51, for the past decade. She is now helping police to track him down after he attempted to murder two police officers on Thursday
Hendy-Freegard is said to have ‘deliberately run down’ and injured two police officers on Thursday using his Audi A3 before fleeing, according to a local judicial source.
One officer suffered facial wounds, including ‘multiple fractures’, while the other sustained more minor injuries.
‘The search for the suspect, who is wanted for attempted murder of a public official, is continuing,’ said the source.
‘There are two helicopters involved in the search, along with all available gendarmes. The suspect’s partner is at liberty and assisting officers.’
He now faces charges of attempted murder of a public official which carry a maximum 30-year jail term.
Conman Robert Hendy-Freegard, 51, (pictured) allegedly drove his Audi A3 into the police officers while escaping from his hideaway in the rural village of Vidaillat in the sparsely populated Creuse region in central France
Hendy-Freegard, nicknamed ‘The Puppet Master’ because of the control he exercised over his victims, was jailed for life in the UK in 2005 for kidnap by fraud, theft and obtaining money by deception.
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.
Hendy-Freegard’s kidnap convictions were later overturned, and he got out prison in 2009.
He met Ms Clifton, a dog breeder in 2012 on a dating app, and the pair kept 26 Beagles at their home in Vidaillat.
Hendy-Freegard bought her a flashy car and her family a holiday to Spain, telling her he was working in ‘the advertising space’.
Hendy-Freegard was the subject of the hit Netflix documentary series ‘The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman’
He began to pose as a dog breeder himself after they met.
He showed off his Beagles at the Crufts dog show, calling himself ‘David Clifton’, but stopped attending in 2015 when his true identity became known.
Ms Clifton’s children from a previous relationship – Jake, 25, and Sophie, 28 – allege Hendy-Freegard has convinced their mother he is a secret agent and is controlling her.
But he denies the allegations, according to the judicial sources.
The children told the Netflix documentary The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman that they had not seen their mother since 2014 as she disappeared after meeting him.
The once devoted mother’s relationship with her children broke down after Hendy-Freegard suggesting Jake, then 16, was gay and had stolen jewellery and locked him out the house.
The siblings researched ‘David Clifton’, discovering his real name was Hendy-Freegard and believe he has ‘brainwashed’ their mother.
However when police tracked down Ms Clifton, and made her aware of who she is with, she initially dismissed the inquiries.
Sandra vanished from family life for seven years, even not attending her parents’ funerals, despite being ‘much loved’ and an only child.
Neighbours in France thought there was something amiss as Ms Clifton had no identity papers, no car, lived in the middle of nowhere and was only ever visited by a man with dark hair.
If anyone tried to speak to her, she would immediately call Hendy-Freegard and ask him what she should do.
‘She never went out, apart from in her small courtyard,’ a neighbour called Serge told AFP, declining to give his surname.
The neighbours confirmed that Ms Clifton had lived a ‘controlled, hermit-style existence’.
‘She did not speak French, and made no attempt to mix with anyone,’ said one, who asked not to be identified.
‘It was pretty clear that she was only interested in interacting with her partner – somebody many of us recognised from Netflix’.
Meanwhile last year Jake tried to get the house his mother inherited from her parents protected for her by putting it into trust.
Sandra challenged the attempt and the two came face-to-face for the first time in years in court.
She accused Jake of trying to steal from her. He said: ‘The problem is my mum has been trained, controlled to do whatever Freegard wants her to say and do.
‘When the police found her to tell her that we wanted to hear from her and to tell her who she was with, she said, ‘I’m not bothered. I know who I am with.’
The semi-detached home that the couple share was raided by police and animal-welfare officers on Friday, and the Beagles were taken into care.
Her devastated son and daughter — Sophie, 28, and 25-year-old Jake, who feature in the Netflix documentary — suspect their mother is being coercively controlled by Hendy-Freegard
Robert Hendy-Freegard is said to use the identities David Hendy and David Clifton as he travels around Europe.
A notorious conman, Hendy-Freegard convinced a series of highly respectable victims he was an undercover MI5 agent and they were IRA targets because they knew him.
Several of his victims lived in hiding for years on end. All of them ended up giving him money – £1million he spent living out his James Bond fantasy of fast cars, luxury holidays and expensive clothes.
Over time he bought himself seven BMWs as well as an £80,000 Aston Martin Volante, Rolex watches and Savile Row suits.
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.
Police said anyone who spots Hendy-Freegard should call the authorities immediately. Pictured: Detectives piece together their investigation about Hendy-Freegard in Netflix documentary ‘The Puppet Master’
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.
Then he demanded that they cut off contact with family and friends, go through ‘loyalty tests’ and live alone in poor conditions.
All had to carry out bizarre tasks which he told them were ‘tests’ set by their supposed ‘spymasters’.
He would claim he was going to marry his female victims, who often refused to cooperate with the police because he had warned them that police would be double agents or MI5 agents performing another ‘loyalty test’.
Sandra’s situation bears a chilling similarity to that of Hendy-Freegard’s previous victims — in particular Sarah Smith, who went missing for ten years after he convinced her he was an undercover agent working for the government.
Once he had brainwashed her, separated her from her family, wiped out her identity and become her only protector, she was entirely at his mercy. She also handed over her life savings of £180,000.
Police said anyone who spots him should call the authorities immediately.
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