Fantasist Emma Golightly was jailed for two years yesterday for plundering the bank accounts of men she met through lonely heart adverts.

Golightly created an extravagant web of deceit - posing as a rich businesswoman with homes abroad and a chauffeur-driven car, before fleecing their accounts.

The 22-year-old, of Meadowfield Gardens, Walkerville, Newcastle, even tricked two into marrying her so she would not die of cancer "unwed", Newcastle Crown Court heard.

She pretended to lavish them with cars, exotic holidays and expensive hotels, but was instead raiding their accounts.

The penniless conwoman then told her lovers she was dying of terminal cancer.

Yesterday she admitted 17 offences of theft and deception, with a further 88 taken into consideration, taking her total crime spree to more than £254,000.

She even stole using credit cards owned by her own mother, grandmother and 19-year-old brother Craig - who has since died from a suspected heart attack.

Police began to investigate after her luxurious lifestyle left the men she romanced with massive bills. But even after being arrested and bailed, she continued to ensnare men and rip them off.

Jailing her for two years, Judge David Wood said: "Over a period of quite a long time you befriended a number of men and pretended to them you were rich, terminally ill and in need of a husband.

"You encouraged them with lavish gifts whilst all the time you had stolen their cheque books or credit cards and were using them for your own advantage."

While accepting Golightly suffered from a personality disorder, he said the offences of theft, deception and attempted deception merited a prison sentence.

He said: "These are serious breaches of trust and there are large amounts involved."

Peter Schofield, defending, said: "She was living in a fantasy world."

Her deception began in early 2004 when she began to steal money from her mother, but after leaving the family home she began to dupe a string of unsuspecting men.

Company director Chris Williams walked her up the aisle after she claimed she had breast cancer and "didn't want to die without being a bride".

An unsuspecting man from Ashington, Northumberland, was later tricked, before she turned her attention to a man from Heaton, Newcastle, who also agreed to marry her.

Another victim was a construction management man from County Durham. Since the case other men have claimed to be victims but say they have been too embarrassed to go to police.

Prosecuting, Tim Gittins said: "The vast majority of her crimes relate to finding men and using their financial ability through credit cards or entry into their bank accounts to fund her lavish lifestyle."

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The 'rich dying woman' who told a non-stop tissue of lies

The fantasy world of Emma Golightly was brought to life in court yesterday.

It all began in early 2004, when Golightly ran up more than £7,000 worth of debt on her mother's credit card.

After being challenged she moved out of the family home.

By that summer she had struck up a relationship with company director Chris William after meeting through a dating advert and began a stream of lies about her age, family background and personal wealth.

Within months she had conned him into believing she had terminal breast cancer. He agreed to marry her. But unbeknown to Mr Williams, the ceremony on September 23 and the honeymoon to Jamaica was funded from his bank account.

The couple were looking at £500,000 houses - but by March 2005 his credit card bills had arrived revealing £17,000 had been stolen.

By September it had reached over £20,000 and Mr Williams asked her to leave.

Within weeks she was dating her second victim.

Golightly met Andrew Norris on a dating website and within a month had racked up £5,500 on his credit card - including £800 on shoes alone. By that time she was also tricking Colin Fitton. She told him she owned a successful bridal shop and the couple quickly moved in together and were holidaying in Gran Canaria.

Within a month she repeated the pretence she was dying - this time of lung cancer - and a second wedding was arranged.

By the time Mr Fitton realised he had been duped out of £12,000 in the sham marriage, Golightly had moved on to Stephen Bell. Using the name Taylor Williams, she again pretended to be a successful business woman with a home in the Caribbean, who travelled in a chaffeur-driven car and owned a bar on Newcastle's Quayside.

She once again pretending to be afflicted with terminal cancer.

To fund her deception she began to steal from her grandmother and brother.

On discovering her deception Mr Bell alerted the police and she was arrested after returning from a holiday in Tunisia.

Even after being charged, Golightly's lies persisted, meeting another man - Richard Sutherland - whose credit cards she plundered to fund expensive meals, nights in hotels and a trip to Turkey.