A BRAZEN serial con artist took advantage of his Good Samaritan ex-girlfriend to swindle his victims so he could go on holiday to Ayia Napa.

Philip Allman, of Obama Grove, Rogerstone, Newport, scammed three people out of more than £2,000 to buy a ticket to the popular party spot.

The 29-year-old advertised his former partner’s Cardiff flat for rent on websites like Gumtree to prospective clients without her knowing and pocketed the cash.

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Prosecutor Tom Roberts said Allman had been allowed to stay at the Llanedeyrn apartment by a kind-hearted former partner on a temporary no-strings attached basis after another relationship had broken down.

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Philip Allman. Picture: Facebook

He told Cardiff Crown Court how the defendant started to offer her flat for rent for £400 a month, plus a £400 deposit, just after moving in and was contacted by the three victims.

The shameless swindler, who has previous 25 convictions for 53 offences, including two separate fraud raps, showed them around the property when his former girlfriend was out.

Mr Roberts said: “He told one couple they could move in on June 11 and that he would get a van and help them move in.”

Allman’s ruse lasted until the victims started to turn up at the flat to take up their tenancy to the shock of his ex.

The defendant pleaded to three counts of fraud.

Mr Roberts said the victims were able to reclaim most of the money they handed over because their banks had refunded them the sums they had transferred electronically.

The cash payments made have been lost however.

The court heard that Allman’s girlfriend was given three months’ notice to leave her flat as a result of his actions.

Mr Roberts said that after his arrest, the defendant told the police: “He wanted money to get away to Ayia Napa and had bought a ticket with a friend.”

Hashim Salmman, mitigating, said he was not asking for a pre-sentence report as his client accepted he would be receiving an immediate custodial term.

Judge Michael Fitton QC told Allman: “I have to sentence you for offences that are really mean and underhand and come from a man who has committed offences of dishonesty for years and years.

“You have a real deep streak of dishonesty in you and it must make it difficult for people to trust you and you are just making your life worse and worse.

“You had a generous friend who allowed you to stay with her and you abused her friendship and her trust to cheat other people out of money.

“You carried this on as long as you possibly could.

“You said in your letter that you were in a dark place at the time after a relationship broke down but people go through that all the time without doing this sort of thing.”

He jailed Allman for 12 months and told him he must pay a victim surcharge upon his release from custody.