A serial romance scammer who lied about having cancer and a dead baby son broke the law just a week after being spared jail in Aberdeen.
We reported in September how prolific conman Scott Fraser narrowly avoided a prison sentence after admitting abducting his then-partner, Debbie McFarlane, in Aberdeen.
During his offending, the 56-year-old lied about his financial position to dupe Ms McFarlane out of £50,000 – and our investigation revealed he had been abusive to other women too.
Fraser got a tattoo on his arm featuring dates of birth and death of his brother and baby and told women about them for sympathy – but neither of them ever existed.
Sheriff Rhona Walk branded Fraser “disgraceful” and said his lies were designed to be coercive and controlling – but she gave him one final chance to rehabilitate.
As an alternative to a prison sentence, Sheriff Wark sentenced Fraser to a community payback order with supervision for three years and ordered him to do 240 hours of unpaid work.
That hearing took place on September 27 last year in Aberdeen – and Fraser was ordered to attend a probation meeting a week later.
But despite his lawyer suggesting to the court that Fraser was turning over a new leaf – he broke the law again.
Fraser, now of Coole Lane, Cheshire, drove a car to that probation meeting without a driving licence or insurance.
The offence took place on October 4 last year in Fraser’s new hometown in the north-west of England.
In a hearing earlier this week at Warrington Magistrates Court, Fraser’s legal representative entered guilty pleas on his behalf.
One was for driving without a licence and the other was driving without insurance.
The owner of the car, who is from England and asked not to be named, told us: “He had been up in Aberdeen for a court hearing the week before and I didn’t know much about it.
“He only told me that the court case involved a woman named Debbie but Scott claimed it was all a big misunderstanding.
“When he got back to Cheshire, Scott was very smug and pleased with himself.
“He said he had got off a prison sentence and that his lawyer had done a very good job.
“That was because the court asked whether he had paid back around £20,000 of the money owed to Debbie.
“I asked Scott: ‘So, have you paid it back?’ And he just laughed and said ‘no’.
“Scott then told me it was particularly funny that the press were waiting outside the court and he had managed to evade them by going out a side door.
“My first thought was ‘why would the media be so interested if the court case wasn’t that interesting?’.
“I asked him what the name of the newspaper was in Aberdeen whose reporters were in court and he said the Press and Journal.
“So later on, I had a look at the P&J’s court report – and was astounded to read what kind of a man Scott Fraser really was.”
The car owner added: “A few days after the Aberdeen court case, he got a phone call saying that he had to go to his probation hearing in Macclesfield on October 4.
“He took my car – even though he knows that he wasn’t licensed or insured to drive it.
“And this is to his very first meeting where he’s trying to make a good impression.”
It is understood Fraser was caught because the vehicle – a white Land Rover Discovery – triggered a roadside camera and the owner identified him as the driver when they received a letter about it.
During the Warrington hearing, the court granted Fraser unconditional bail and adjourned the case until February 27.
A separate hearing has been scheduled to take place at Crewe Magistrates Court later in the year to deal with other matters.
Read more:
Exposed – The Aberdeen cancer faker who got a tattoo of a ‘non-existent dead baby’ to con money out of women across the UK
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