A CONMAN whose mortgage scam defrauded people all over the country out of thousands of pounds has been jailed for three years at York Crown Court.

Former police officer Glyn Keatley, 56, formerly of Rowntree Wharf, Navigation Road, York, who pleaded guilty last month to ten counts of fraud, persuaded his victims to pay for valuations on properties on promises of mortgages at good rates, said Aisha Wadoodi, prosecuting.

They received no such service from his business, Anglian Holdings, and none of them received their money back, she said. When some of them suspected something was wrong, he told one that his son had died and another that his son had suffered a serious injury in an accident.

His victims included Darren Robson, a builder of Copmanthorpe, who lost £586 and the fraud totalled £31,577.

Ms Wadoodi said that unknown to his customers, Keatley - who served with South Yorkshire Police between 1977 and 1984 - had already been previously convicted in New York of similar offences in America.

She said he flew toTenerife in 2010 but had been extradited back to Britain earlier this year.

John Boumphrey said in mitigation that Keatley maintained he had been running an 'honest enterprise' at the start which had deteriorated.

He also believed he would be exonerated in relation to the offences for which he had been convicted in America. He added that Keatley wished to apologise for what he had done.

The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, told Keatley he was a conman who had made bogus claimed about members of his family to try to win sympathy and take the pressure off himself, and used his position as a former policeman to win their trust.

He said this had not been a victimless crime, as Keatley had caused his victims stress and anxiety as well as financial loss, and prompted feelings of gullibility. The judge also said he felt his remorse was 'only skin deep.' He added that the jail sentence was being reduced by 25 per cent to three years because he had pleaded guilty.

DS Andy Kenyon from the Major Fraud Investigation Team at North Yorkshire Police, said afterwards that people like Keatley needed to be brought to justice and he was satisfied this had been done in court.

“Keatley is a deceitful individual who unlawfully obtained large amounts of money from innocent people," he said. "It is good news that he will spend time behind bars for the fraud he has committed."