Cannock fraudster who conned her ex-partner out of their luxury home jailed

Sally Parfitt left former girlfriend Ann Watson ‘devastated’ by her actions, which have led to her being jailed for three and a half years.

She piled up £369,000 worth of illegal loans, forging signatures on a string of documents.

Sentencing, Recorder William Edis QC branded her ‘dishonest’ .

Stafford Crown Court was told the 51-year-old was a career criminal who had already been jailed once this year for a separate £1.8m VAT fraud

Parfitt, of Princess Street, Chadsmoor, Cannock, carried out the fraud when she moved in with her parents after the couple split.

The recorder said: “It is an aggravating factor that from 2002 until your discovery in 2014, you engaged in prolonged and protracted frauds of high value.

“I don’t know, or haven’t heard, any great expression of remorse for what you did, but you have pleaded guilty.”

The couple, who were in a relationship from 1990, bought Gardeners Lodge, in Wincote Lane, Eccleshall, in 2001, prosecutor Mr Arnold said.

Parfitt, who was trusted with the pair’s financial responsibilities, paid the mortgage while Ms Watson paid the bills.

The couple remained friends after splitting in 2006 but Ms Watson continued living at the property while Parfitt moved to her parent’s Somerset farm.

Parfitt’s offending came to light when Ms Watson opened a letter addressed to the defendant and discovered the property was set to be repossessed. Investigators then found Parfitt had forged Ms Watson’s signature, along with personal details, when she fraudulently obtained a £23,000 loan from Black Horse Ltd.

The criminal later made an application for a £46,000 loan from Future Loans Ltd, forging Ms Watson’s details again.

She also forged the signature and personal details of a mutual friend, incorrectly spelling Walsall and writing the wrong house number.

The fraudster went on to forge both signatures a third time when getting a £300,000 loan from Birmingham Midshires to remortgage the couple’s house.

She claimed she was the sole owner, despite jointly owning the home with Ms Watson, who was removed from the title deeds and left the property after the ‘shocking’ revelation.

Defence barrister Mr Michael McKeown said Parfitt, who has previous convictions for handling stolen goods, claimed the first two loans were used for renovation work at the property.

He said the letter was sent when the defendant failed to make mortgage repayments for a ‘short period’ while serving a 24-week sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to a calf in 2014.

The court heard Parfitt was jailed for four and a half years in February at Bristol Crown Court for a separate VAT fraud, while her 85-year-old father was locked up for five years. She also has previous convictions for handling stolen goods.

She admitted three counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception between February 2002 and July 2005 on the day of her trial.