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​A conman who lied to his fiancée about his name, job, and even having cancer and a vasectomy has been jailed for six years.



Greg Wilson’s lies began to unravel on February 25, 2017 – the day he was due to marry his partner of almost three years, Coleen Greenwood, at Wynyard Hall.



After being confronted with the fact that he was a compulsive liar who had led a double life and defrauded his fiancée’s family and several North East businesses out of tens of thousands of pounds, Wilson got in his car, drove away from his Chester-le-Street home and never returned.



Coleen’s family reported him to police and Detective Constable Chris Bentham, from Durham Constabulary, began what would become a complex three-year investigation into Wilson’s lies.



Wilson, a former soldier, first met Coleen on a dating site in September 2014, after he posed as a firefighter named James Scott.



The relationship quickly blossomed, and on December 17, 2016, the pair were due to marry at Wynyard Hall, followed by a honeymoon in Las Vegas – all of which had been organised by Wilson.



However, as the date approached, Wilson claimed he had testicular cancer and the wedding would have to be postponed.



A new date was set for February 25, 2017 after Wilson had allegedly been given the all-clear for cancer. But again, this wedding never happened.



It later transpired that no weddings or honeymoon had ever been booked, and Wilson had never had testicular cancer.



Over the course of the relationship, Wilson’s lies became more complex and more audacious.



This culminated with the couple having a son together in February 2016, despite Wilson falsely claiming he’d had a vasectomy. Their son still has Wilson’s false surname of Scott.



Later that year, he also arranged to buy a £1.6million house – in cash - on an exclusive development at Ramside Park, near Durham, after claiming he was due some inheritance from his mother.



Wilson created a fake bank statement which showed he had recently had £2million paid into his bank account.



However, when no money was ever paid out by Wilson, the purchase was cancelled in January 2017.



Wilson also claimed he had a property management business, named Gemini Property Services, and convinced Coleen’s sister to invest tens of thousands of pounds into the company – money that she has never seen again.



He then conned multiple North East businesses into providing services for his company, like radio advertising and marketing campaigns. None of these businesses ever received a penny for their work.



Not content with defrauding businesses however, Wilson also targeted charities, leaving Cash for Kids out of pocket by £500 and promising Middlesbrough-based domestic violence charity, My Sister’s Place, an auction prize that never appeared.



He also showed an interest in developing the former Pravda building on Newcastle Quayside into a wine and cocktail bar, and asked several local businesses to carry out marketing work for the venture.



However, Wilson could never afford to purchase the £2million building, and none of the businesses he employed ever received a penny for their work.



His offending eventually caught up with him, and Wilson was arrested and charged with eight counts of fraud, two counts of forgery, one count of making a false statement about a birth and one of converting criminal property.



The 39-year-old initially denied the offences, but later changed his plea to guilty.



He appeared at Newcastle Crown Court today via video link, where he was jailed for six years.



Speaking after the sentencing, Coleen said: “The shock, hurt and disbelief I’ve felt since these lies unravelled is extremely hard to put into words. The complete devastation to discover that my whole life and plans for the future were built on deceit and lies is heart-breaking.



“As time progressed and the reality set in that James Scott – or rather Greg Wilson as he is actually called – the man I loved, never existed felt to me like a bereavement. These emotions were counterbalanced by the increasing feeling of stupidity and humiliation I felt.



“Telephone calls and letters arrived chasing debts he had incurred, and I found myself explaining the situation over and over again.



“This was embarrassing and I felt to the outside world that I was a complete and utter gullible fool.”



She added: “I’m not the same person I was before James came into my life. I believed I was sharing my life with a wonderful caring man, a true hero who risked his life as a firefighter. Finding out James was a fraud was a huge blow to me.



“One of the hardest things I will have to do is, at some point in the future, I will have to sit down with my wonderful son and explain the horrendous truth about his father’s deception. This is a task I wouldn’t wish on anyone.



“This will have to be done with the tremendous support I have received from my lovely family, whose support I couldn’t have done without through this devastating time in my life.”



DC Bentham said: “In my 23 years of policing, I have never encountered a man as manipulative as Greg Wilson – or James Scott, as he would have others refer to him as.



“He is a compulsive liar who has shown absolutely no remorse for those he has hurt.



“He built a huge web of lies, the scale of which I have never seen before in my policing career. But as soon as his lies began to unravel, he fled like a coward, leaving his baby son without a father and his wife-to-be without a partner.



“Not content with lying to those closest to him, Wilson also defrauded several well-known businesses across the North East and a number of charities as well.



“We can find no other motive for his offending other than he seemed to get a kick out of it.



“This has been an incredibly long and complex investigation, throughout which Coleen has shown immeasurable strength and dignity.



“I hope that she feels some relief that justice has been served and Wilson is now behind bars. She has already done an incredible job of rebuilding her life, but I hope now she can close the door on this chapter of her life and move on fully.



“I also hope this shows other fraudsters that your lies and deceit will eventually catch up with you, and we will find you and bring you to justice.”