HE said he wanted to be York City’s saviour as the club teetered on the brink of oblivion – today he is exposed as a “twisted and wicked” conman living a life of pure fantasy.

Wayne Scott took on the guise of two famous American wrestlers when he called a pair of Premiership football clubs to ask for free tickets in aid of charity – and even used their names to make glittering promises to a sick teenager.

But the 36-year-old’s “mean and despicable” hoaxes were just part of a world of delusion which has seen him narrowly avoid going to prison for a string of frauds.

York Crown Court heard Scott, of Plane Close, Doncaster, had used 21 aliases – including Logan Michael Wolverine – and three different dates of birth over the years, choosing the names of US wrestling stars Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and John Cena for his latest deception.

In 2003, going under the name Kane Van Basten, he retitled himself Jason Van Der Sarr and promised to buy cash-strapped York City for £6.5 million before withdrawing his bid.

Two years later, he was jailed for swindling people out of goods and telephone services worth thousands of pounds, and last year his name was linked to a US police investigation into hoax calls made to Hollywood stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta from a man claiming to be the father of actor Heath Ledger, who died following an accidental drugs overdose.

Scott admitted three charges of fraud dating back to mid-2007 when he appeared in court this week, with a judge hearing he pretended to be the wrestlers when he asked Everton Football Club to make match tickets available to him for charitable work.

“He then had contact with the family of a 15-year-old with muscular dystrophy, using the name of an organisation called the Starlight Foundation, using an American accent and claiming to be John Cena,” said David Garnett, prosecuting.

“He said he wanted to visit the family with his entourage and take them to Miami. The mother said her sons were so excited, she ‘had to get them off the ceiling’.

“They later found out it was a hoax and the mother said she could not tell her son it was a con.”

Scott then pretended to be Mr Johnson when he targeted Manchester United for a similar ruse – this time even claiming the child he wanted to help was a 17-year-old called Wayne Scott.

“Memorabilia was sent to Scott’s address along with a letter from the club’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson expressing his best wishes and thanking him for his loyal support,” said Mr Garnett.

The third fraud charge related to a BT telephone bill for £197 in the name of Nigel Usher found by police at Scott’s home.

Chris Dunn, defending, said: “These are very ugly offences and it is quite clear Scott is a complete fantasist.

“It appears he blurs the distinction between fantasy and reality on a regular basis.”

Scott was given a 26-week prison sentence suspended for two years, ordered to observe an electronically-tagged overnight curfew at his home for the next three months, and told to complete 200 hours’ community work and pay £388 costs.

Recorder Euan Duff told him the Manchester United hoax risked “undermining charitable institutions and makes individuals less likely to give to genuine deserving causes”.

The judge added: “The serious and, in my view, wicked aspect of this offending is pretending to be John Cena and contacting a child’s family. You could not fulfil your promises. It was done not for financial gain, but to satisfy some strange quirk in your personality and to get some twisted satisfaction by pretending to be the person you posed as. That sort of offending is mean and despicable.”

After the hearing, Scott was asked about the Heath Ledger investigation and denied being the hoaxer, saying American police had not approached him about the matter.

He accepted the hoax call had been traced to the building in which he lived, but said that was a coincidence.


Impostor targeted A-list celebrities

NEW York Police Department (NYPD) detectives are investigating whether Scott may be the conman who impersonated Ledger’s father, Kim, after the 28-year-old was found dead in his SoHo loft.

The Daily News in New York reported how investigators traced the calls made by an impostor to Scarborough, North Yorkshire.

After Ledger’s body was found by his masseuse and housekeeper in Heath’s Broome Street apartment, the impostor called the city medical examiner and pressed the doctor who performed the autopsy for toxicology results.

He also asked for grisly descriptions of the Oscar-nominated star’s corpse, the sources said.

The conman somehow managed to get Tom Cruise’s private phone number, calling the Mission Impossible star to commiserate after Ledger’s death.

The bogus father apparently asked John Travolta to send him money so he could buy a ticket to fly from New York to Australia, where Ledger’s family lives and his body will be laid to rest. The conman also contacted actors Mel Gibson, Halle Berry and Christian Bale, the sources said.

The impostor’s lies were so convincing that he even got the Frank E Campbell Funeral Home to book him a suite at the exclusive Carlyle Hotel New York.

The Madison Avenue funeral home received Ledger’s body from the medical examiner and sent it to Los Angeles for a memorial service.

Today the NYPD told The Press: “Our investigation is still ongoing.”


Fraudster’s razzmatazz obsession

SERIAL liar Wayne Scott’s fascination with the razzmatazz of top-level wrestling has been at the centre of many of his hoaxes.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said, in the past, he had masqueraded as a sports promoter who contacted various famous female wrestlers and organised a conference at London’s Dorchester Hotel where he offered them contracts.

And in 2003, styling himself as Scarborough businessman Jason Van Der Sarr, he staged a multi-million pound rescue bid for troubled York City Football Club, but pulled out of the deal, claiming rumours about his private life were to blame.

In February 2005, using the alias Kane Van Basten, he admitted 13 criminal charges – including theft, obtaining property and services by deception, attempting to obtain property by deception and wasting police time by making false 999 calls – when he appeared before York Crown Court, asking for a further 26 offences to be taken into consideration.

As he was jailed for two years, the court heard he had persuaded shopkeepers to part with goods by claiming his son had leukaemia and terminal brain cancer.

The CPS said he had used 18 different BT telephone accounts at a Scarborough flat, each of which went unpaid and led to arrears of almost £5,900. He also ran up a bill of around £800 on premium rate lines and more than £4,000 through mobile phones, with his defence team saying he had begun lying “at will” to gain attention after his parents broke up.

At his latest court appearance, the CPS said he had racked up 24 convictions for fraud and 11 for theft between 1987 and 2005.


Wayne Scott’s aliases

* Jason Van Der Sarr
* Kane Van Basten
* Logan Michael Wolverine
* Michael Basstene
* Logan Bennett
* Michael Scott
* Mark Trury
* Kane Van Bastan
* Kane Logan Van Basten
* Logan Michael Van Basten
* Michael Van Basten
* Logan Van Baster
* Michael Van Bastern
* Karl Logan Ban Baston
* Mason Van Basten
* Kane Van-Basten
* Kaine Vanbasten
* Kane Vanbasten
* Logan Van Bastem
* Logan Van Baston.

Source: Crown Prosecution Service