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A model who conned men into spending thousands of pound to fund her luxury life has been jailed.
Gemma Kingsley, 50, tricked admirers into relationships, telling them she was due to inherit a fortune. But she used them for money, spending huge sums on hotel stays, luxury cars and even a planned wedding.
Her victims include wealthy businessmen and an ex-serviceman.
She admitted six counts of theft and four counts of fraud by false representation and two counts of using a false instrument with intent that it will be accepted as genuine at a previous hearing.
Jailing Kingsley for more than seven years, Judge Jason Taylor KC told her: "Your duplicity and brass neck is staggering.
"You are a common thief who traded on her charm, charisma and good looks to ensnare victims without any regard to the train of destruction being left behind by your greed."
Police were first tipped off in 2019 when they received a report she had fraudulently used the bank details of her mother’s friend to pay for a stay at Cromhall Farm, near Chippenham.
Police then began an investigation, with other forces passing on information about ongoing investigations into the model.
She told one victim she was due to receive a multi-million pound inheritance, using forged letters to convince him. He went on to spend thousands of pounds on furniture, dental bills, her debts and a payment for a wedding.
She repeatedly used his bank cards to steal money and opened a betting account in his name.
She repeated her deception with another victim a year later, also saying she was in line for a huge inheritance. He helped her with a deposit for a Land Rover and a Porsche as well as expensive hotel stays.
She used personal and company bank cards to make purchases without the victims’ knowledge.
Kingsley was first interviewed about the offences in May 2020 where she denied all the offences.
She was later tracked down to a property in Bristol in August 2022 where she was arrested for a second time.
She was then charged last March, by then she had moved to a remote cottage in the Scottish Highlands.
After several months of delaying court hearings she eventually pleaded guilty.
DC Melissa Pope, from the Wiltshire Police fraud team, said Kingsley’s crimes caused “significant emotional anxiety” for her victims.
She added: “She manipulated their emotions, assuring them through her future inheritance she would be able to repay the considerable sums…
“I hope that her victims can now start to move on from this experience.
“I want to highlight that for romance fraud cases like Kingsley’s, while there are significant financial losses, it is often the emotional impact on the victims that has a more lasting impact.
“It is a huge breach of trust and self-esteem which can take years to recover from.”