A WOMAN has been jailed for three-and-a-half years, for defrauding an elderly man out of thousands of pounds whilst serving a suspended sentence for similar offences.

Claire Cox, charged under her maiden name of Rogers, was banned from Ty Melin sheltered housing complex in Croespenmaen, near Oakdale, after conning several residents out of cash in 2012, saying she would repay them when a compensation claim was settled.

In May 2014 she received a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, on seven counts of fraud. But by then she had befriended a man who also lived at the complex, a friend of her mother’s, and persuaded him to part with large sums of money during 2013-15.

Cox acknowledged a debt of more than £18,000 late in 2015, but the two counts of fraud to which she has pleaded guilty involve around £10,000.

At Cardiff Crown Court, prosecuting counsel Janet McDonald said Cox, of Highfield Crescent, Aberbargoed, came to be regarded like a daughter by her latest victim.

“He wanted to help her out of financial difficulties,” she said, adding that the victim was alcohol-dependent, but though susceptible, kept “fairly detailed records of the transactions”.

Small borrowing requests for Christmas, debts and rent, escalated when Cox persuaded him to lend her £3,500, claiming she was under threat of prison for her previous offences, but might avoid it if she could pay that sum back.

“She did not pay the money to the court but kept it for herself,” said Ms McDonald, adding that Cox was ordered instead to repay £50 a month. He was confused, but she told him there had been an error, and she was trying to retrieve the £3,500 from the court.

More borrowing ensued, Cox stringing him along, said Ms McDonald, again promising repayment when a compensation claim was settled. Similar promises were made until in September 2016 her victim called in the police.

A probation report indicated that Cox carried out the latest offences whilst in regular contact with a probation officer, a condition of her sentence for the previous offences.

She pleaded guilty to the latest charges on the eve of a trial, the late pleas, said defence counsel James Evans, a sign of how ashamed she is.

The judge, Recorder Mark Powell, said Cox pursued the “systematic targeting of elderly, vulnerable individuals” and after receiving the suspended sentence in May 2014, continued with her latest victim.

“You lied to them about having a compensation claim, in exactly the same circumstances as this case. I regard this as an extremely serious pattern of behaviour,” he said.

Cox received concurrent 27-month jail terms for each fraud, and a further 15 months for breaching the suspended sentence, to run consecutively, a total of 42 months.