Love-Bombed: The fake firefighter who conned his way into hearts

Coleen Greenwood believed her spouse of much than 2 years was a divorced firefighter called James. But aft getting engaged and having a babe with him, she discovered that everything astir him was an elaborate, cautiously crafted sham. A caller BBC podcast, Love-Bombed, tells the story.

Being a firefighter was a large portion of James Scott's life.

It was salient connected his dating illustration and helium would talk astir it constantly.

When helium returned to Coleen's location successful Chester-le-Street, County Durham, astatine the extremity of his shifts, his azygous would regularly reek of smoke.

While connected work helium would nonstop her substance messages detailing his call-outs, helium often included emojis - a occurrence motor if helium was responding to a blaze, 1 of a car for roadworthy crashes.

He had enactment emails purporting to beryllium from County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service and showed Coleen a convey you paper helium claimed helium had been sent by a lad helium rescued from a fire.

"I was truthful touched," Coleen recalls. "I utilized to person that paper connected my table astatine work. I'd look astatine it and deliberation 'Ahh, bless him. He did that, helium saved that small boy'.

"Anybody that would perceive would perceive astir his engaged occupation and each the antics that went on.

"My family, my friends, my colleagues - everyone believed helium was a fireman."

Not lone was James Scott not a firefighter, that wasn't adjacent his existent name.

Coleen was 41 erstwhile she met him done a dating website successful 2014 and helium went retired of his mode to triumph her affections.

He bombarded her with flowers, sometimes much than 1 bouquet a day, and would crook up astatine her workplace to driblet disconnected her favourite almond croissants.

She fell successful emotion with him due to the fact that helium came crossed arsenic funny, benignant and a bully begetter to the 2 daughters helium had with his ex-wife.

In world though, the woman was not an "ex" and the imaginary daughters were really 3 sons.

It was not until 2017 that Coleen discovered James Scott was the persona utilized by a jobless erstwhile worker called Greg Wilson.

He lived with his household successful Darlington, 28 miles from her home.

The firefighter ruse allowed Wilson to walk days and nights distant from Coleen. His begetter had been a firefighter which meant helium could gully connected cognition of the occupation to embellish his lies.

The longer Coleen was with him, the deeper his deceit grew.

Durham Police judge Wilson faked a vasectomy, manipulating Coleen into unprotected sex.

She had seen him bandaged and seemingly successful immoderate discomfort pursuing the operation, and helium showed her a doctor's study which said helium had a zero sperm count.

"He'll person shown her a 100 fake documents and that volition beryllium 1 of them," says Det Con Chris Bentham who investigated the case.

"It's a disgraceful happening to do."

Coleen became large and 15 months into the narration had a babe boy.

Wilson called the commencement a "miracle".

Coleen began receiving gifts for the caller arrival.

All the portion she was unaware that Wilson had dumped his woman and 3 sons successful bid to determination successful with her and the baby.

Wilson's (now divorced) wife, Rachel, told the BBC helium near her penniless and portion helium did admit to having an affair, she had nary thought helium was utilizing a fake identity.

The imposter allowed his mendacious sanction and fake concern to beryllium entered connected the child's commencement certificate and for the lad to beryllium fixed the fabricated surname of Scott.

He projected to Coleen and she accepted, unaware that helium was already married.

Wilson besides began swindling wealth from her duplicate sister Karen, who considered him a "member of the family", to put successful an alleged business.

He knew the sisters had dreamed of opening a edifice and, arsenic clip had gone on, helium had convinced them his parent was a precise affluent retired nonrecreational surviving successful France with an ambition to put successful a vino barroom oregon restaurant.

"It sounded great," Coleen says.

The invented woody was that the monied parent would springiness a stock of the caller concern to him and Coleen, portion Karen offered to put wealth from an inheritance and rental incomes.

The mates toured sites successful Newcastle looking for the close venue to redevelop earlier settling connected an aged nightclub.

Wilson faked documents and messages to dupe the sisters into believing the task was legitimate.

He adjacent acceptable up meetings with genuine concern radical - a nationalist relations specialist, a nonrecreational lensman and a videographer - which further solidified the con.

All were fed the aforesaid ruse that determination was a affluent parent successful France bankrolling the development.

Wilson's existent parent is simply a retired nursery manager from Sunderland. She was oblivious to the lies being told successful her name.

Wilson ne'er did person the wealth to make a edifice oregon employment the radical who had started moving for him.

He gave the content of wealthiness by embezzling Karen's money.

He took the sisters and his caller concern contacts to firm hospitality events astatine Newcastle Falcons rugby club, wherever helium dined successful the platinum suite, which helium did not person the wealth to wage for.

Newcastle Falcons - and different businesses who had accommodated him - would extremity up pursuing Wilson for debts, earlier lining up alongside Karen and Coleen to springiness grounds against him.

Wilson's lies did drawback up with him eventually, aft helium doubly cancelled the wedding.

Coleen's household had grown suspicious and discovered that the venue printed connected the invitations had not adjacent been booked.

Before they could face him, Wilson handed implicit the babe he'd had with Coleen and drove off, ne'er to return.

Why helium did it each remains a mystery. Durham Police bash not judge it was for fiscal summation arsenic immoderate wealth helium got mostly went connected backing the deception.

Wilson has been contacted by the BBC but is yet to respond.

For Coleen, the fallout was profoundly damaging.

"I mislaid a chromatic successful a mates of weeks. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. My full assemblage utilized to shingle each the time," she says.

"It was similar a bereavement due to the fact that we loved him. He was a cardinal portion of our family, similar a lynchpin, and past helium was gone. And it was like, however bash you cope?"

Coleen, present 49, yet met different antheral but, due to the fact that of her acquisition with Wilson, she was highly cautious.

She insisted connected seeing his passport, gathering each his household and visiting his location earlier she felt she could spot him.

They are present happily joined and her hubby has adopted the kid she had with Wilson.

"If I conscionable crumpled and turned into a man-hater and didn't spot different idiosyncratic past helium gets each the power, doesn't he?" she says.

"He was a atrocious idiosyncratic and I was conscionable unfortunate but that doesn't mean that I'm going to tar everyone with the aforesaid brush.

"I wasn't going to fto him win".