Peterborough fraudster conned women he met on dating sites out of thousands of pounds

A Peterborough man who conned women he met on online dating sites out of thousands of pounds has been locked up.
Daniel LionsDaniel Lions
Daniel Lions

Daniel Lions - also known as Daniel Pethers - racked up almost £5,000 of debt in the women’s names.

The court heard there were two victims, the first of whom Lions (28) started a relationship with in June 2016.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He persuaded her to sign up for a two-year mobile phone contract and claimed he would pay her the £58 monthly payment. After five months he stopped paying her but continued to use the phone and racked up £1131.92 worth of debt.

He started a relationship up with the second victim in April 2017. He persuaded her to set up a mobile phone contract for him in her name, as well as finance agreements for a watch, camera, aftershave and a motorcycle.

The victim grew suspicious of Lions and Googled him, finding out he had got women into debt before and asked him for the items back. He gave her back the watch and camera which she returned for a refund. She also got the phone back and was able to return the motorbike, which was sold at auction. This left her with £3836.16 debt, £1856.40 of which she got written off.

Lions, of Stagsden, Orton Goldhay, Peterborough, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud at a previous court appearance and was jailed at Peterborough Crown Court for 16 months.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Detective Sergeant Mike Paget said: "Lions is a repeat offender who has already served time for this type of offence.

“He used devious schemes to take advantage of his victims’ good natures and I hope this result gives them some comfort.”