Private eye trapped gold-digger

By Sally Nancarrow
BBC News

Leonard Hesling was told sob stories by Lorraine Upritchard

Gold-digger Lorraine Upritchard boasted that she received more than 60 calls a day from lonely-hearts ads placed in local newspapers across the South East.

She fleeced the men she befriended of at least £20,000, though police say the figure could be as high as £100,000.

But she bargained without the tenacity of one of her victims, 67-year-old Eastbourne man Leonard Hesling.

The retired joiner handed over £2,200 but when she failed to honour two IOUs he set a private detective on to her.

It cost him £200 but he believes it was worth every penny.

"For that he found out quite a lot about her and otherwise she might still be at large," he said.

"When someone does the dirty on me I don't like it."

Skipped bail

On Friday, Upritchard was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court to an 18-month community order and ordered to pay £2,200 compensation to Mr Hesling within 12 months.

Police arrested the 49-year-old in Asda's car park in Eastbourne, where she had arranged to meet Mr Hesling.

"She texted me and said she was outside Asda, but by the time I got there they had arrested her," he said.

Upritchard, who told her victims she was a widow but was actually married, lived in a terraced house in Croydon.

After her arrest she skipped bail and was eventually tracked down to a room at the Hilton Hotel in the south London town.

Mr Hesling, whose wife died 10 years ago, was typical of the men caught in Upritchard's web.

"She targeted vulnerable people," he said.

"I met her once or twice and she was reasonably attractive, with a reasonable figure, and she was very, very convincing.

"It was almost like she groomed people."

Lorraine Upritchard was arrested while she waited to meet her victim

Mr Hesling handed over separate loans of £1,200 and £1,000 after being told sob-stories by Upritchard.

"She said she had to go into hospital and that she wanted a deposit to rent a house," he said.

He was given IOUs for the money but it was never paid back.

Police initially said they could not intervene in a civil matter but then Mr Hesling went to them with the private detective's evidence.

"It took a lot of nerve to go into that police station," he said.

"It wasn't easy because you feel such a fool."

Lucrative life

Mr Hesling said it was discovered Upritchard's victims lived as far apart as Winchester and Brighton.

"Police have told me there were a lot of people she conned out of money," he said.

"I personally think she had been at it for a long time - it was a lucrative way of life for her.

"I saw her out and about in Eastbourne last summer so she must have been making a lot of money in this area."

The episode has been a stressful period in the father-of-two's life.

"She must have hurt a lot of people," he said.

"I am a resilient person but other people are not - she might even have broken up marriages."

Mr Hesling's daughters who live in Kent and Warwickshire, have been "very supportive" of their father.

"My eldest daughter said, 'I am very, very proud of you - you have done something to stop her'," he said.

But he fears others may still fall into similar traps set by clever conmen and women.

"It has got so much easier for them with the internet and chat rooms," he said.

"My advice to anyone who starts up a relationship is to back off the moment money is mentioned."