A PROFESSIONAL confidence trickster has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for conning more than £100,000 from hard-up savers.

Eric Fretten, 63, conned £127,000 by “deliberately targeting” people in financial difficulty between 2006 and 2009.

A judge told him: “I think you are dishonest to your core.”

Fretten, of Oxford Road, Cowley, pleaded guilty to eight counts of fraud and one of obtaining money by deception.

He befriended some victims and told them he would invest their money in a high-interest Swiss bank account.

In others, he pretended to be a mortgage advisor and would take money for house valuations that never took place.

Neil Moore, prosecuting, at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday, said: “He is a professional confidence trickster, often praying on people who had fallen on bad times and having done so, he took their complete trust, which he then abused.”

Fretten even shared a bed with one woman before taking about £50,000 from her savings, he said.

He promised victims across the South East that he could find them a better deal on their debt repayments if they invested their money with him, Mr Moore added.

In 2008, one of Fretten’s victims told the Oxford Mail how she was fooled into trusting the conman.

The single mother, who did not wish to be named, said: “My money has all gone. You cannot describe how vulnerable and stupid this makes you feel.

“Now all the money I had set aside for a home for me and my three children to live in has gone. It may sound stupid but I completely trusted him. I thought he was my friend.”

Her case was one of those read out in court.

Fretten had previous offences for forgery, theft, and obtaining property through deceit dating back to 1974.

Colin McCarraher, defending, asked the judge to take into account his client’s age and ill health. He said there was also evidence Fretten was the carer for his long-term partner, and may have “slipped back into his old criminal ways” to help her.

He said: “My client acknowledges that a custodial sentence is entirely inevitable but we ask for some credit for his guilty plea.”

When passing sentence, Judge Patrick Eccles said: “In each case, there were losses, and in some of those cases the losses were large.

“Each of those victims will have suffered a deal of sadness and misery.

“I take the view all of those people were deliberately targeted by you, as many had fallen on hard times.”

He added: “Your offending has been getting worse and although you show some remorse now, it is difficult to believe you because I think you are dishonest to your core.”