Peter Berry has been jailed for eight years after conning women out of cash in a romance scam
A world record-holding yachtsman dubbed ‘Shrek’ has been jailed for eight years for conning three women out of £70,000 in a romance scam.
Peter Berry, 51, befriended victims through online dating sites to charm them out of cash he spent on sporting equipment, underwater cameras and a personalised registration bearing the number 666.
The 20-stone balding lothario embarked on his latest crime spree after he was let out early from a five year jail term he received for 19 fraud offences at Truro Crown Court in 2010, when one of his victims said he ‘looked like the cartoon character Shrek’.
Detectives believe he may have swindled up to £2million from more than 100 women during his career of crime after targets included a lawyer, GP and a fund manager, with one investigator saying Berry ‘had a PhD in deception’.
Berry also persuaded victims to lend him money through extravagant lies including needing to help friends trapped in the Himalayas and conned one woman out of £1,000 after claiming he needed to raise £50,000 to build ski chalets.
He blew almost £12,000 on Barclaycard and Morgan Stanley credit cards after applying for them in the name of his elderly mother, Elizabeth Berry.
As a yachtsman he set a new world record in May 2001, skippering the Netergy.com trimaran from Plymouth to La Rochelle, in France, 10 hours faster than anyone before him.
A year later, he helped smash his own record by sailing the route with the late American adventurer Steve Fossett on the entrepreneur’s £8million PlayStation maxi-catamaran – the record still stands.
The former yachtsman was likened to the cartoon ogre ‘Shrek’ by one of his victims in the fraud case in 2010.
Joanne Clifford was sympathetic when Berry approached her about money problems during the scam
He was released on licence just two years later and quickly started where he had left off, fleecing three women between October 2012 and October 2013.
Berry remained at large for two years and police had appealed for information in 2014.
He was later spotted in a London bar sporting a thick beard, talking in an Eastern European accent.
He was finally found by police living at a house with a wife in the New Forest in October 2015 – and she knew the crook as ‘Jonathan Jones’, jurors heard.
Berry was then returned to jail to serve out the remainder of his five year sentence.
His latest trial heard how he posed as a successful businessman, kayaker and Harvard University graduate to ensnare his latest victims following his release from jail in 2012.
Kate Peel, who gave Berry the benefit of the doubt and stayed in touch until November 2013, when she was approached by Sussex Police
The Cornwall-born conman, who claimed he had to live in a tent after he was let out of prison, insisted the three women had all agreed to lend him cash.
Berry’s latest ploy was to try and get his case moved from Inner London Crown Court down to Lewes Crown Court after complaining about the poor air quality in the capital.
He claimed he suffers from ‘acute brittle asthma’ which means the London air quality can cause him to fall sleep.
Berry wanted the trial moved to Sussex ‘where the bracing South Downs air would keep him more alert’ but the judge rejected his application.
He denied but was convicted of seven counts of fraud by false representation after a four day trial.
Jailing him for eight years the judge, Mr Recorder Julian Malins, QC, said: ‘You have been convicted by a jury of seven counts of fraud on overwhelming evidence which without any great surprise satisfied so that they were sure that you are a confidence trickster and a crook.
‘You have pleaded not guilty and told a pack of lies in the witness box.
‘In the first case you were, on the 18 May 2010, on your own plea of guilty at Truro Crown Court sentenced to a period of imprisonment for no fewer than 19 dishonesty offences. Those offences took place between May 2004 and October 2009 which is over a sustained period and involved large sums of money.
‘Within no time at all you are preying on women for the purposes of extracting money from them.
‘I saw the witnesses, heard what they had to say. Each of these victims and they were very gutsy to come and give evidence, particularly the first one in light of what she had to say about you.
‘There was a serious detrimental effect on them and a financial one because they had lost so much money, and particularly so their view of life and how they had been made fools of in being defrauded.’
Joanne Clifford offered Berry money when he claimed there was ‘a cock up at work and that he was in trouble and needed £200,000’
Berry used a series of aliases including Jay Smith, Dr James Smith, Taz Keady and Jonathon Jasper John, in his charades.
‘He is a confidence trickster,’ said Elizabeth Lowe, prosecuting.
‘He creates over a period of time a credible story founded on no evidence at all.
‘He encourages them to hand over money, he reassures them repeatedly they will their money back or they will get a great return.
‘He goes by a number of different names to the different women.’
The convicted fraudster scammed Joanne Clifford out of £30,000 after meeting her on the matchmaking website Plenty of Fish in November 2012.
‘This defendant was using the user name of Waterboy. He made contact with her using that dating website. Over a number of days they messaged each other followed by phone calls and text messages.
‘They just met in Arundel in the middle of October. The defendant introduced himself as James Smith.
‘He says he has a doctorate in engineering. He says he is building and designing a prototype for wind turbines.
‘He said he sold his BMW to fund the project and tells her to keep the details secret.
‘Towards the end of October he telephoned her sounding stressed. He claimed there was a cock up at work and that he was in trouble and needed £200,000. He said he was struggling with the last £50,000.
‘Ms Clifford was so convinced that she offered him money. He initially said no. The crown say that’s an aspect of his tricks.
‘He builds up confidence then went on to persuade her it was a smart investment. She ultimately handed over £20,000 in two tranches, on 24 and 25 October.
‘The bank account is in the name of John Keady, which this defendant also goes by.
‘They later spent a night away at a pub in Chislehurst, he gets her to pay for that night away. The next day they travel up to London and spend the day together.’
Ms Lowe said they went shopping in Covent Garden and he bought something at the Apple Store, then purchased a pair of sunglasses at another shop.
‘On 12 November the defendant phoned up sounding stressed and suggesting he was struggling financial. She adds another £5,000 to what she has already supplied for his investment.
‘A couple of weeks later on 29 November a further £10,000 goes from Joanne Clifford to the defendant after he told her he was going to have to lay off an employee and she asks what she could do to help.’
Ms Clifford contacted Berry a number of times and asked for her money back. She then discovered the ‘con’ when she was contacted by Sussex Police.
Lab technician Kate Peel met Berry through a kayaking club in November 2012 and knew him as Jason Smith, the court heard.
‘After a couple more kayaking trips they began a romantic relationship,’ said the prosecutor.
‘She lives in London and she describes she had money she had inherited from an ex-partner who had sadly passed away.
‘He told her he was a business consultant. He says he has a business opportunity in IT in Europe. He required commitment to this investment by the weekend. He would personally guarantee this investment and she would get back a 20 per cent return.
‘She transferred into the Barclays account £15,000.
‘He then says to her ‘I just need a bit of extra money for my share of investment, can you please lend me £3,000.
‘On 5 February she’s in fact informed that this defendant is a convicted fraudster and she confronts him about that. They meet up at a train station and she asks for his explanation. He reassures her he gave her a version of events. He said the money was safe.’
Joanne Clifford was one of the women who Berry targeted in the £70,000 fraud in which he used online dating sites to get close to victims
Ms Peel gave Berry the benefit of the doubt and stayed in touch until November 2013, when she was approached by Sussex Police.
‘She never got her money back,’ said Ms Lowe.
Berry then fleeced neighbour Christine Gearing out of £15,000 after moving to a flat in East Preston, Sussex.
They started up a friendship and Berry said he was ‘in a consortium of peer funding’ where members could invest in a short term high interest loan.
Ms Gearing was invited to join and transferred £10,000 to Berry on 3 July, jurors heard.
‘In September he again asked for money from her in another deal of around £5,000 to £15,000’ said Ms Lowe.
‘He said to her he was in financial trouble. She wisely didn’t give him anymore. She was contacted by police in November 2013,’ she added.
Detectives would later find designer clothing, sporting equipment, underwater cameras, satnavs and a Volkswagen van with the personalised number plate ‘K666 YAK’ at Berry’s flat, all of which were seized in the fraud investigation.
Christine Gearing was fleeced out of £15,000 after moving to a flat in East Preston, Sussex
Detectives have recently appealed for any more potential victims to come forward but believe women may be ‘too embarrassed’ to come forward.
Berry, of Brockenhurst, Hampshire, denied seven counts of fraud by false representation.