- Sebastian Timmis used dating apps to con women out of nearly £32,000 in 2022
- Were YOU targeted by Timmis? Email stewart.carr@mailonline.co.uk
A con artist who stole nearly £32,000 from dozens of women he met on dating apps to feed his gambling addiction has been jailed yet again.
Sebastian Timmis, 32, convinced his many victims to send him money after romancing them in 2022 – all while he was on prison licence for similar offences committed the previous year.
Sentencing Timmis at Taunton Crown Court, Judge Paul Cook described the defendant as ‘cynical and manipulative,’ adding that Timmis had ’emotionally and seriously betrayed’ his victims.
Timmis, from Marksbury, Somerset, admitted 12 counts of fraud by false representation – targeting women from Bristol, Bath, Swindon, Nottingham, Warwickshire, Hertfordshire, Hampshire and Sussex.
He used online dating sites and apps to earn his victims’ trust, before making up seemingly urgent scenarios to gain his victim’s sympathy and steal money from them
Sebastian Timmis, 32, of Marksbury, Somerset, stole £32,000 from women he met on dating apps in 2022 – while he was on prison licence for similar offences committed the previous year
For his latest offences, Timmis was sentenced at Taunton Crown Court (pictured) to three years and two months in prison. He was also handed a 10-year serious crime prevention order, banning him from using dating platforms
Previously, Timmis was sentenced to three years and four months at Bristol Crown Court in March 2021 for conning women out of over £48,000 – using identical tactics.
He was on licence from prison having served less than a year when he committed his latest batch of offences between January and July 2022.
For these crimes, Judge Cook sentenced Timmis to three years and two months in prison. He was also handed a 10-year serious crime prevention order, banning him from using dating platforms.
PC Rory Everitt, the officer in both cases, said: ‘Timmis used dating apps and websites to establish the trust of his victims before claiming to them he needed money urgently.
‘He’d pressurise his victims into transferring money to him, promising he would pay them back.
‘He would make up time-critical scenarios, including having his wallet stolen, to win sympathy and would then not give the money back. The cash was used to fund gambling.’
Last year, the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau received 8,036 reports of romance fraud, amounting to more than £92million lost.
PC Everitt added: ‘These victims have shown great courage in reporting what happened to them. We commonly misspeak and say people “fall” for scams and fraud but this is not the case.
‘These women were manipulated by a prolific and selfish fraudster who used their kind-heartedness to make them feel sorry for him, and profit to the tune of almost £32,000.
‘He has received a significant prison sentence and we welcome the court’s actions to impose an order that should help prevent him from being able to defraud anyone else by similar means in the future upon release.’
- Were YOU targeted by Timmis? Email stewart.carr@mailonline.co.uk