Convicted conman Peter Gray, 35, took out a number of loans in the name of his ex victim, including for a second home, car leases and a Sky Glass account as he was jailed for an extra 28 months
A fraudster known as the UK’s Tinder Swindler who attempted to “hoodwink” a judge appeared in court after attempting to scam his ex partner out of £50,000. Evil Peter Gray, 35, took out loans and contracts out in the name of his previous partner.
Prosecutor Jordan Millican told Leeds Crown Court the couple had met on Tinder in November 2020 and in the early stages of the relationship he asked her to take out a loan of £17,000 for a deposit for a second property. Gray also took out a car lease in her name, as well as a Sky Glass account in her name and multi-car insurance, YorkshireLive reported.
In a victim impact statement, the woman said the couple were newly engaged and planning a wedding after being together for three years before she found out what Gray had done. The woman said she learned the ‘soul destroying’ news from a television report that Gray had fathered a child with another woman while he was in a relationship with her.
She said: “As far as I was aware, we were in a loving relationship .Before meeting him I was diagnosed with anxiety and had previous experience of panic attacks, which he knew.
“This experience has greatly re-triggered my symptoms, particularly around finances and relationships…it is hard to come to terms with the fact the person close to you has humiliated you in such a way. Before I left him I asked him why he had done this to me and he said it was because I was so kind.”
The woman said she has frozen all of her bank cards and account and will only unfreeze them when she is about to make a purchase, such as when she is in a queue. She said: “I’m constantly checking my bank balance to make sure there are no unauthorised amounts taken out.
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“I continue to get letters from companies about debts taken out in my name that are unknown to me. I’m terrified bailiffs will turn up. My emotional state over the whole time was one of stress and anxiety, knowing the whole thing could impact not just my life, but my wife’s.”
The woman went on to say: “During a news report one of Peter’s victims described how she had a child to Peter born during the first year of mine and Peter’s relationship. To have this confirmed by a news TV report was soul destroying.”
The court heard Gray also targeted a man, who he had met at a golf club, asking for a loan of £25,000. It was said the man transferred the money to Gray after it had been paid into his account, but he later found out it had been taken out in his name. He contacted Gray, who told him it was an error.
Judge Ray Singh said he had sentenced Gray last year after he had defrauded four other victims. He sentenced him for 56 months for four counts of fraud by false representation.
Those charges related to him making fraudulent loan applications in their names. He stole around £80,000 from the woman in total. He fell to be sentenced for nine counts of fraud by false representation on Wednesday. Mr Millican said he had 12 previous convictions for 27 offences. Of those, 14 were for dishonesty offences.
Judge Singh queried why Gray had not come forward about the offences he was sentenced for on Wednesday when he appeared last year. Gray told him: “This is the totality of my offending.”
Mitigating, Thomas Doyle, said: “He does, through me, wish to apologise to all of the victims for the harm he has undoubtedly caused by his offending. He has uploaded another handwritten note. Beyond that, there is little more I can say.”
Jailing him for an extra 28 months, Judge Singh told Gray: “When you appeared before myself in February last year, I indicated on that occasion I had read a letter you had written to myself and the words I said to you then were: ‘I don’t accept a word of it.’
“I didn’t accept you were remorseful for your behaviour. You said you had turned a corner and that is nonsense. At the time you were being sentenced you knew about these matters to which you are now being dealt with.
“You tried to hoodwink me on that occasion and I wasn’t persuaded or hoodwinked because perhaps the truth in this situation is you’re a manipulative, serial fraudster preying upon – in particular – vulnerable females.
“The offences were wicked. You left a trail of destruction behind you and people are trying to rebuild their lives and are looking over their shoulders every time a letter gets delivered.”
