Fraudster who swindled £360,000 from jailed friends

A man who defrauded a couple out of more than £360,000 and used the money to fund a gambling habit and “luxurious lifestyle” has been jailed.

Damien Tideswell admitted defrauding the pair, who were his close friends, after asking them for help when he told them his bank account had been frozen.

Tideswell, of Hale Drive, Liverpool, was actually using the money on online gambling sites, car hire, holidays and designer clothing, Cheshire Police said.

The 42-year-old was jailed for six years and six months at Chester Crown Court after admitting fraud.

The court heard how Tideswell told his victims he had £3.5m in the account but it was frozen by HMRC because of an outstanding balance, the force said.

He asked the couple if he could borrow money to repay a fine and assured them he would repay them as soon as his accounts were unfrozen.

Tideswell provided victims with forged documents, fabricated images and orchestrated fraudulent phone calls to defraud them, police said.

However, he never refunded the money and kept demanding more money, and the couple reported the matter to the police.

He was arrested in December 2021 and later charged.

After an investigation of Tideswell’s bank accounts, police discovered that most of the money he received was spent on gambling, with £181,890 paid to online betting companies.

He also spent more than £22,000 on car hire, £19,000 on UK hotels, almost £10,000 on bars and restaurants, almost £4,000 on overseas holidays and £4,000 on designer clothing.

After sentencing Tideswell, Constable Gareth Yates said he fed his friends “a web of lies” and asked them to make a total of 42 payments between August 2017 and February 2019.

He added: “In reality, Tideswell have wasted all their money.

“As a result of his actions, the victims are now financially destitute, unable to enjoy the comfortable retirement they have worked hard for all their lives.

“Although we have not been able to recover any of the money they have lost, I hope that the fact that Tideswell has finally been held accountable for its actions will give them some closure.”

Tideswell’s sentence also included four months for failing to attend his original sentencing date.