Corby man jailed for faking own death to defraud friend

Michael Cordwell pretended to be his grieving wife and asked a friend for money, Northamptonshire Police said

A man has been jailed for faking his own death and pretending to be his grieving wife to defraud a friend out of more than £1,300.

Michael Cordwell acted as his wife and texted a female friend telling her he had died in June, Northamptonshire Police said.

The 50-year-old began asking the friend for money after saying times were hard.

At Northampton Magistrates' Court he admitted fraud by false representation and was jailed for 26 weeks.

Cordwell, previously of Butterwick Walk, Corby, was also sentenced to an extra five weeks for breaching conditions related to him being on the sex offenders register.

'Calculated and deceptive'

Sentencing Cordwell, magistrates said: "This offence is so serious because it happened over a period of time, upon a vulnerable victim, and you attempted to get her to delete the evidence.

"You have also struggled to display any victim empathy."

Lead investigator PC James Brookes described the crime as "exceptionally calculated and deceptive" and said Cordwell took advantage "of the kind nature of this woman for financial gain".

"No amount of money is worth being so disloyal and dishonest to a genuine friend," he said.

The officer commended the victim for "seeing our investigation through to the end".

"I hope when that cell door closes every night Cordwell reflects on his greed and lack of humanity, in order to ensure he makes better decisions when he is released from prison," PC Brookes added.