TO most people Wayne Gouveia was just a sales assistant in a whisky shop in Oxford city centre.

But to his girlfriend he was a secret MI5 agent, sent to save her life.

The 25-year-old fantasist told sales assistant Leanne McCarthy: l He was an undercover policeman and MI5 agent l Her boss was planning to kill her with the deadly poison anthrax l She should let him intercept all her post — which included a bank card and its PIN number — to stop her being killed by mail laced with the poison l He was working at the Turl Street shop to prevent an armed robbery at the neighbouring jeweller’s where she worked l Faked a burglary when they were on holiday to steal her money.

Gouveia, of Shannon Road, Bicester, now faces a prison sentence after stealing thousands of pounds of Miss McCarthy’s savings.

Clare Tucker, prosecuting, told Oxford Crown Court that the couple began dating in September 2007.

She said Gouveia showered Miss McCarthy with expensive gifts and explained he had so much money because he was actually an undercover policeman.

Miss Tucker said: “He said he was working in Turl Street due to an imminent armed robbery, which was going to occur at the shop where she worked.

“He went on to convince her it was her boss who was planning the armed robbery so he could claim on the insurance.

“He also convinced her that her boss was trying to kill her, by lacing her mail with anthrax.

“He persuaded her not to open her mail but to give it all to him.”

Gouveia then told Miss McCarthy he was an MI5 agent and his boss wanted to recruit her as a spy, because she had kept his secret so well.

He made her sign a fake copy of the Official Secrets Act and took her on pretend covert operations to spy on houses and cars around Oxford.

The court heard he also faked a burglary at their flat when they were on holiday on the Spanish island of Tenerife and told her a rash she had developed was due to drugs he had given her.

Gouveia admitted three charges of fraud by false representation during a hearing on Monday.

Judge Terence Maher adjourned sentencing until Monday, March 16, to await psychiatric reports.

Gouveia was granted bail until he is sentenced.

The judge said: “He spun a web of lies and abused the trust that this unfortunate young woman put in him.

“It’s not only a remarkable story but it’s bizarre to the point of lunacy.

“This man was living in fantasy land. The more I heard, the more I was thinking that this man was bonkers.”

Miss McCarthy, 21, of Blackbird Leys, told the Oxford Mail that she had known Gouveia for a year before they began their relationship.

She said: “He was really believable. I trusted him and he took me in. I did feel really stupid. I absolutely hate him.

“Everyone that met him liked him. They were all taken in by him.

“I thought I knew him but obviously — quite clearly — I didn’t at all.”

esimmonds@oxfordmail.co.uk