Convicted conman denied bid to switch judge

Mark Acklom alleges information which could have helped his case was withheld by the prosecution

A convicted fraudster has failed in his attempt to switch the judge overseeing his latest court case.

Mark Acklom convinced Carolyn Woods, whom he met in Gloucestershire, that he was an MI6 agent in order to swindle her life savings during a year-long relationship in 2012.

Acklom alleges his case was conducted unfairly and so requested a new judge to oversee the Crown Prosecution Service's attempt to recover the money.

However, prosecuting barrister John Hardy branded his efforts as a "childish" waste of the court's time. Judge Martin Picton denied Acklom's request to recuse himself from the case.

Acklom, who was once named on the National Crime Agency's list of 10 most wanted fugitives, has been dubbed Britain's most notorious conman.

He promised to marry Ms Woods and then persuaded her to lend him money for renovation work at properties he owned.

Carolyn Woods said she was persuaded to loan fraudster Mark Acklom her life savings

In reality, Acklom was living with his wife nearby while consistently lying to Ms Woods about why he could not spend more time with her.

He admitted defrauding Ms Woods out of £300,000 in 2019 when he was extradited back to the UK from Spain.

However, Ms Woods has always maintained this figure is closer to £850,000.

Since his guilty plea, efforts have been under way to recover money through the Proceeds of Crime Act.

These court proceedings can force criminals to repay money earned through crime - or mean they face an additional jail sentence.

CCTV footage of the day Ms Woods first met Mark Acklom is the only image of them together. He claimed being a spy meant he could not be photographed

Ahead of an appearance at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday, Acklom submitted a lengthy document outlining what he claims are reasons why his case has been handled unfairly.

Many relate to the disclosure of documents, with Acklom maintaining he was not given access to adequate information for him to mount a proper defence.

Defence barrister Martin Sharpe told the court his team were "wandering around in the dark" because they did not have the "keys to the warehouse" of information gathered by the prosecution.

In response, prosecutor John Hardy said: "This is an effort to relitigate matters already dealt with. It is an abuse of the process of the court."

He added his arguments were an attempt to "advance arguments which are manifestly without merit" and was delaying the court proceeding with other cases.

Judge Picton concluded: "I am not persuaded that there is any reason to recuse myself."

He added that he intends to conduct the remaining hearings within the next six months.