Anglesey crossbow murder victim scammer jailed six years

Gerald Corrigan and his partner Marie Bailey gave £200,000 to Richard Wyn Lewis

A scammer who took £200,000 from a 74-year-old man who was later murdered has been jailed for six years.

Richard Wyn Lewis, 51, of Llanfair-yn-Neubwll, Anglesey, was accused of defrauding Gerald Corrigan and his partner Marie Bailey.

Mr Corrigan was later killed with a crossbow, in an unrelated incident.

After denying 11 counts of fraud and one count of intending to pervert the course of justice, Lewis changed his plea to guilty on four counts of fraud.

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He claimed the money was for land sales, property development and horses.

Lewis's partner Siwan Maclean, 53, of the same address, denied one charge of entering into a money laundering arrangement.

Richard Wyn Lewis has been jailed for six years for four counts of fraud

But Peter Rouch KC said the prosecution would be offering no evidence on this and the jury was directed to return a not guilty verdict.

The jury was discharged from reaching verdicts on Lewis's remaining seven counts and it was marked for court records.

'A despicable crime'

Speaking after sentencing, Insp Arwel Hughes of North Wales Police thanked the victims, their families and all the witnesses who assisted in the court process, as well as the Crown Prosecution Service and investigation teams for their two years of work on the case.

Inspector Arwel Hughes welcomes the sentence, but says it could never "undo the suffering that has been caused to so many"

He added: "This was a despicable crime committed over several years. I welcome the sentence imposed today but acknowledge that no sentence could ever undo the suffering that has been caused to so many.

"I hope that the eventual admission of guilt by Lewis will in time offer some form of comfort to the victims and their families."

'There is no more money'

Mr Rouch described Lewis as a conman and fraudster.

The court heard that Mr Corrigan and Ms Bailey had given an estimated £220,000 to Lewis. Mr Corrigan was alleged to have told him: "There is no more money."

The court previously heard Lewis was accused of conning a number of people out of money between 2015 and 2020, but became involved with the pair in 2015.

"Both came to regard him as a good and trusted friend, not recognising the fraudster that he was," Mr Rouch said.

The court heard the first false representation made by Lewis to the couple concerned the "apparent potential development and apparent potential sale" of their home.

Ms Bailey urged Mr Corrigan not to give money to Mr Lewis, a court heard

He said Mr Lewis persuaded Mr Corrigan he could sell their home to a developer for more than £2m, allowing him to buy somewhere more suitable for Ms Bailey, who has multiple sclerosis.

The court heard Lewis told Mr Corrigan he had a potential buyer, had enlisted the help of a retired planning officer and advised him to set up an off-shore bank account which £120,000 was apparently needed for.

'He took advantage of us'

Ms Bailey told the court Lewis "isolated" her husband and took cash from them.

They believed these payments were related to the development and sale of their home, Gof Du, as well as for horses.

Ms Bailey said she and her husband "didn't even know if these horses existed".

Payments, sometimes made in a Llangefni car park, included money for planning applications for their property to be developed into a campsite and sold.

She said Lewis "took advantage of us both".