Conman jailed for string of pitiless offences

Aug 29 2009 by Neil McKay, The Journal

A “HEARTLESS” conman was beginning a three-year jail sentence last night for crimes against two vulnerable women.

Ex-soldier Raymond McDonald also callously led two 13-year-old boys to believe they were going on foreign holidays which failed to materialise at the last minute.

McDonald, a 36-year-old married father-of-two from Laburnum Crescent, Trimdon, County Durham, claimed to be a paramedic to one of the “vulnerable” women he befriended over the internet.

Durham Crown Court was told yesterday he made up a number of “cock and bull stories” to victims including Louise Moyes, a mother-of-two.

David Crook, prosecuting, said he told Ms Moyes he was a paramedic as part of a “tissue of lies.”

He used her credit cards to buy gifts which he claimed were presents for her, but which she never received.

He also obtained a key to her house and used her laptop to order goods on her credit card, in total defrauding her out of £3,356.