f,,rry Yffiffi Hh. &r+.$ e#r {-f +} ffih*-.y E#4ffi=ffiffi Pul Bint hs lived full life: he's worked s doctor, seduced beutifulwomen, stged in luxurg hotels nd driven performnce crs. But never s himself. Esquire met Britin's most notorious con mn, k King Con, just before his pst cught up with him WORDS Phirip lydtson PH0T0GRAPHS Simon Roberts "KING CON" ISSHOWING MEAR0UND performnce cr showroom somewhere in Scotlnd. Looking the prt in blue pinstripe suit he clims cost f 3,000 from Versce, pir of Versce shoes with "18-crt gold buckles", Gieves & Hwkes shirt nd tie, Pul Smith cufflinks, Adids sports wtch, Okley shdes nd conspicuously crrying his top-of-thernge Noki mobile phone, PAQ pocket PC nd copy ofthe Fr, he is giving fir impression ofthe type ofyoung hotshot who might be in the mrket for some seriously fst nd fshionble wheels. "l've hd two Astons; one of these Lotus Esprit Turbos, in blck; Ferrri Testross; one of these Mercedes Sports 500 SLs, but mine ws much nicer; Rol ls-royce Corniche convertible, sky-blue it ws; red Lmborghini; nd severl Porsches similr to these two," he sys, s we stroll pst the prde of shiny sportscrs. Mr Con is, of course, tlking bout the motors he hs stolen, nd often been cught steling, rther thn those he hs pid for with honest redies But still, when he csully mentions to the slesmn tht he works in corporte finnce, repets some ofthe models he hs "owned", nd displys fir degree of knowledge of their specifictions nd vlue, you cn lmost see the slesmn's ers prick up nd pound signs register in his eyes. King Con is prospect; in fct, he is so cst-iron nd high-profile prospect tht he even comes with his own journlist nd photogrpher. Settling for spin in nerly new, si lver-grey, 3.2-litre, six-cylinder, Aston Mrtin D87 utomtic with Connolly lether sets nd wlnut dshbord, retiling t just under f70,000, the mster of the universe is sked by the deler if he knows how to drive the cr. "Wtch nd lern, mte," sys King Con, rther too cockily, s he slips into the driver's set. "l've hd every performnce cr on the rod. Once you've driven oneaston Mrtin, you've driven them ll." He tkes the DB7 out for 3O-minute run, during which he very dequtely tests its speed nd hndling nd flshes drivers who re in front of him on the dul crrigewys ("1 hte it when Porsche-owners don't know tht they hve to give wy to clss"). The slesmn t times looks plpbly nervous, yet King Con sfely returns the cr to the showroom. As we mke our excuses nd leve, he turns to me conspirtorilly nd sys: "No problem. I know the lyout nd where he keeps the keys to the crs. Yeh, I could get one off him esy." A few weeks lter, in July lst yer, repeting pttern built up over nerly www.esquire.co.uk t3 53
. '', jl]}]:q.:}f..?::r.,1, '. "Wtch nd lern, mte. l've hd everu performnce cr on the rod. 0nce gou've driven one Aston Mrtin, gou've driven them ll" society rich-kid Piers Oppenheimer, nd reltive of the Lord Chncellor. More roguishly, in order to impress, dupe nd form reltionships with women, he hs impersonted bllet dncer with the Royl Festivl Bllet, Household Cvlry officer nd leding brrister. While posing s eminent QC Lchln Cmpbell-Breeden in Edinburgh lst yer, he ensnred Nikki Gonelli, former beuty queen whom he impressed with tles of his London mnsion nd clssiccr collection. During the course oftheir five-week ffir, he lso presented her Tlkingtothe opertor 20 yers, he does lmost exctly tht. Pul Bint, k King Con, Presenting himself gets into his routine t showroom, the Annieslnd Trde Centre men s prolific, fuscinting nd fntsticl in Glsgow sjmes Blenheim, millionire who owns hotel in Muritius, nightclub in London nd penthouse in Edinburgh, he stels f55,000 Aston Mrtin DB7. The opertion is crried out very smoothly. After supposedly rrnging bnkers'drft on the phone, King Con goes to lunch in the cr with grgeowner Ross Cmpbell. Plming the keys, he tells Cmpbell tht he is stepping outside to mke business cll. The cr is recovered four dys lter, hving done 900 miles nd with t 15,000 of dmge. King Con, whose rel nme is Pul Bint, is rrested shortly fterwrds. Sles mngerjohn Robertson, who brokered the del, ws lter reported to hve "fllen prt" when told by his boss tht Bint hd mde off with rhe Aston Mrtin. He hd been "dncing" in the showroom t the prospect of the s Pul Bint. From the ge of 18, he hs plyed n ingenious cst of chrcters, hve involved posing s doctor. ln 1983, he ws given n l8-month sentence for from doctors to brristers, ristocrts, steling doctor's cot nd stethoscope plyboys, bnkers nd bllet dncers, t hospitl in Kettering, Northnts. A yer lter, fter bluffing his wy into the ccident nd emergency wrd of the Whittington Hospitl in North London by tking on the identity of Dr Dominic York, whom Bint discovered hd gone to work in the US, he went on to do shifts t severl other leding London hospitls. Over two-month period, he rrnged X-rys, ttended to ptient with collpsed lung, nd even put l2 stitches in mn with hed wound. At St Brtholomew's hospitl in Est London, cr delership in Scotlnd, posing s flnncier. The lies rn so deep tht i1 ws even doubtful there ws lwgs someone on the other end of Bint's mobile-phone clls to different commission he would receive. "He ws very well dressed nd looked like professionl businessmn," sid Robertson. "l would hve given him the shirt off my bck tht dy." 54 @ www.esquire.co.uk ln THE COLOURFULANNALS of British criminl history there hve been few con often with disstrous consequences for his victims. Originlly women's hirdresser from Highm Ferrers in Northmptonshire, he hs been dubbed "King Con" by the police, nd "Britin's cruellest conmn" nd "most dngerous mn" by the tbloids. He hs commirted more thn 120 offences nd ppered in court 20 times. He clims to hve slept with more thn 1,000 women. He mkes Jeffrey Archer look honest. The theft of the Aston Mrtin in Glsgow ws by no mens n isolted incident. ln fct, steling crs while posing s n ristocrt or businessmn ln 1988, he is Bint's most common scm. ws sentenced to four yers for tricking out of n {84,000 Ferrri Testross while pssing himself off s the Erl ofarundel. ln other cses, he. hs mde off with expensive crs by pretending to be Pierce Forte, grndson of millionire Lord Forte, invented slesmn with flshy enggement ring. His most serious crimes, however, he tried to chnge the drip on womn coming round fter n emergency opertion. At Hmmersmith hospitl, he ws even present during hert by-pss surgery. Cught soon fterwrds, he in 1984 to five yers in prison. "You re not mentlly ill," sid Judge Nin Lowry, pssing sentence. "You hve n unfortunte tlent which you hve used over nd over gin to persude others tht your fntsy world exists." ws sentenced
INVESTI6ATION tht this ws cse of mistken identity nd tht he hs never been to the hospitl. ln 1994, he ws iiled for five yers following incidents t the Royl Preston Hospitl, where, posing s locum nmed Dr Piers Wtkin, he signed form cross-mtching ptient's blood for surgery nd offered to ct s n nesthetist. He ws rrested fter the hospitl becme suspicious when his girlfriend, Jne Griffith, clled to check tht he ws bon fide. She hd met Bint It's no different relly from cting." It works, he sys, becuse most people re trusting nd tke things t fce vlue. "Ninety-nine per cent of people re decent nd they believe wht they see nd wht you tell them. They don't hve suspicious minds, there re no hidden gends, nd mostly they will go out of their wy to help you. A good con of lumps while using the line: "Trust me, l'm doctor." At tril in Newcstle in 2000, during which he ws found guilty of obtining then involves studying ech sitution nd reding people." He ttempts to fix me with long stre with his cold blue eyes. "Most people re not good three nights in luxury hotel in Edinburgh through deception, Bint's own t hiding their feelings." Detecting some cockney tones in his voice, I sk him if he ever chnges his ccent. "No, I lwys tlk like l'm tlking now," he replies. "You've got to drw the line; you cn't be stupid. lt would be too difficult to mintin nother ccent for long period - you could esily hve few drinl<s nd let it slip. lt's importnt to keep control t ll times. And nywy, most people with plummy ccents re to best sum up his criminl personlity. "On the fce of it," he sid, "he mkes Wlter Mitty look like BBC Nine O'CIock News reder." To be good con mn, gou've got to red up. You've got to hve good memoru so Uou cn remember wht lies Uou told" TWO WEEKS BEF0RE our "test drive" in the Aston Mrtin, I meet Pul Bint for Iunch in the swish new Tower Resturnt in Edinburgh. Agin, he does his best to ct the successful young mn bout town. He swggers into the dining room wering grey suit by Ginfrnco Ferre (he proudly shows me the lbel), blck Oxford brogues (coming prt t the sems) nd those Pul Smith cufflinks (squeezed wkwrdly through buttonsleeve shirt). His ccessories include Psion Revo Plus orgniser, Armni shdes, nd TAG Heuer wtch obtined, he Eight yers lter, he ws gin ssuming the identity of doctors fter steling equipment, identity crds, pgers, wllets, credit crds nd mobile phones from surgicl-thetre chnging rooms. ln 1993 he ws ordered to be detined t Stockton Hll psychitric hospitl ner York fter cting s locum doctor t StJmes's, Leeds. He wndered the wrds wering stolen white cot, stethoscope nd pger, nd donned surgeon's gown in the operting-thetre scrubbing-up room. During the sme period, Bint lso scmmed his wy intoyork District Hospitl, where he ssured the prents of 17-yer-old girl inlured in rod ccident tht she would live. Six hours lter she died. Bint is dmnt, however, into lrge sirloin stek. "lf you're going to tke over someone's person, you hve to know everything bout them nd relly live tht life.you've got to hve good memory so you cn remember wht kind of lies you've told. few weeks erlier in nightclub in Preston; she lter climed, somewht incredulously, tht his pick-up routine involved fondling her brests for signs defence counsel, Eric EIliot, seemed "lt's not opportunism. reserch the whole con ln detil," he sys s he tucks tells me, "through criminl intelligence". "Well, you've got to look the prt t putting it on." You sense tht prt of the reson Bint often fkes it s n ristocrt or doublebrrelled brrister is becuse he holds n intense envy nd resentment for the privileged nd monied. Hving been brought up in modest circumstnces "He comes from lovely working-clss fmily who lived in net little terrced house in Northmptonshire," sys former girlfriend Mndy Schotel - nd with modest mbitions, Bint took n erly decision to ccess, however ll times. hven'c youf" he sys, pssing fleetingly, the lifestyle of the Estblishment his Aquscutum cshmere cot to witress. "And l've got lot to choose from. l've got 80 suits, 25 pirs of shoes, 200 shirts nd 400 ties."the problem with by pretending to be one ofthem. He is, fter ll, very long wy from being ltter-dy Robin Hood: Bint stels from the rich only to give to himself. The desire to pose s doctor is more complex. When he went into hospitl t the ge of l2 to hve n ppendix opertion, he sys the experience ws interviewing King Con, of course, is tht it's hrd to believe nything he tells you. Still, we spend the next few hours going through his story. Hving been edgy nd distrcted when I met him for the first time the week before, he seems more relxed nd, s the food, wine nd whisky (courtesy, nturlly, of Esquire) flows, he begins to revel himself. He is criminl, but occsionlly n rticulte one. "lt's not opportunism; to be good con mn, you've got to red up nd reveltion. "lt ws lil<e I'd been hit by bolt of lightning," sys Bint, slowly, emphticlly. "Suddenly my eyes opened becuse I found myself surrounded by people who genuinely cred bout me. Tht ws something l'd never, ever relly experienced. I ws in fmily where there wsn't very much love or www.esqulre.co.uk @ 55
ttention." Like those suffering from Mtjnchhusen Syndrome, he ttempted to hve himself re-dmitted to hospitl by pretending to be ill. At other times, he would simply hng round hospitl witing rooms. "lt ws like drug to me - I crved tht love nd cre. Hospitl mde me feel sfe. And I thinl< tht's where things strted to go wrong." When he resolved to become doctor, Bint clims his mother ws discourging, telling him tht he would be better off being relistic nd working in fctory, s she nd her prents hd done. "l sid'bollocks ro rht'," he sys, growing ngry. "They thought tht just becuse they were leding boring, humble existence nd didn't hve much money, I should be like tht s well. But I wnted more out of life nd to build something." Pretending to be doctor gve him exctly tht pprovl nd sttus, lbeit in wy tht ws criminl, recklessly negligent nd potentilly endngering to life. Bint, predictbly, rejects tht ssessment. He clims tht he spent six months poring over medicl books nd mnuls prior to conning his wy into hospitls in 1983, nd tht, hving used Dr DominicYork's nme to get Generl Medicl Council certificte, he ctully pplied for the position of junior doctor t thewhittington Hospitl in London, beting 2 I other pplicnts ro the.iob. "l hd lot of regrd for the ptients I delt with, nd everyrhing I did, I did right," he sys. "lf I ws shown how to do something, I could do it stright wy - you'd only need to explin it to me once. It's ll sequentil process, nywy, series oftests, nd if I ws in ny doubt l'd lwys sk nd pss the ptient on to someone more senior." But wht gives him, I sk, the right to ply God with people's lives? "There isn't ny rel.justifiction, but I ws certinly lot more diligent nd creful thn mny doctors I worl<ed with. I helped people on countless occsions nd spent lot of time just tlking to people nd llying their fers. Nobody ws injured. ln fct, there re people wlking round tody who re live becuse of me." BUILDING A PSYCH0L0GICAL PROFILE of Pul Bint is no esy tsk. ln some wys, when you spend time with him, blgging his wy to free hircuts, smol<ing cigrs nd chtting up girls in brs nd nightclubs, he cn lmost seem loveble rogue, n Arthur Dly or Delboy Trotter figure without quite s much chrm nd chrism. There is something of the spiv bout King Con, yet his role-plying goes much further thn simply cting the flsh chncer t the br impressing his mtes. "Becuse l've been so good t wht I do, I sincerely believe 100 per cent tht I m the person l'm pretending to be," he sys "And I believe tht for weeks nd weel<s nd weeks. And s fr s'pul Bint'is concerned, he doesn't even exist." The roots of his deceptions re lso much more opque. He sys tht his prents seprted when he ws eight, his mother lter moved in with nother mn, nd tht from the ge of l3 to 18 he ws plced in children's home, Rockinghm Den in Kettering, nd there is evidence to suggest ll these things re true. He sys tht, even though he ws gifred t rugby, cricket nd sqush nd plyed for his county, his prents never supported or encourged him. He lso sys tht his fther, Michel, rn successful building compny. However, in 1984 Bint Sr ws reported by the Doily Moil to be living "in one filthy room in North London dosshouse". Mndy Schotel, who ws Pul Bint's first serious girlfriend nd herself victim of his cons, confirms tht"by the time I met Pul in 1982, his fther hd left home nd ws living in squt in Finsbury Prk. He didn't hve job nd I think Pul ws shmed of him." Bint clims his fther committed suicide on Christms Dy, 1993. Other detils of his erly yers, s lleged by him, re often wildly improbble or wholly unprintble. His "MU p rents thought tht just becuse theq were leding boring, humble existence, I should be like tht. But I wnted more out of!ife" mother, Crol, hs resolutely refused to tlk bout him nd declined to be interviewed for this investigtion. "lt's not so importnt tht everything he reports bout his childhood is fctully ccurte," sys Dr Rymond F Trvers, consultnt forensic psychitrist t the Nottinghm Helthcre NHS Trust, who specilises in treting criminls with personlity disorders. "lf his perception of his childhood is tht it ws hostile. or tht he ws rejected, or tht it cused him hrm, then, even if it didn't hppen, it cn hve mjor impct on him." It is cler tht Pul Bint's fntsy life strted erly in his teens. Unble to cope with the perceived rejection of his fmily, he found it esier to fbricte drem life in which he ws fr more successful nd estblished. "He hs never come to terms with his own ordinriness," sys Mndy Schotel. His fntsy life is bout escpe nd control, nd the longer he hs done it, nd the more vlidtion - socil, sexul nd finncil - he hs enjoyed, the more King Con hs to lose by not continuing to do it. "lf he doesn't ssume these roles then he is nobody, non-entity with no fntstic wy of voiding underlying feelings of indequcy, vulnerbility nd low self-esteem," sys Dr Trvers. "Over 56 @ www.esquire.co.uk
Mn ofwelth nd tste Blnt set gret store bu hls clolhes: "You've got to ook the prt, hven't Uou?" he sid. The TAG Heuer wtch cme his wg through "criminl intelligence". He lso climed to crrg lrge mounts ofcsh t ll times: "Got nu csh on Uou? WelL, l've go1 two grnd" time, wheres the people he pretends to be my become more nd more sophisticted nd elborte, the other prt of him, the rel person behind the role, hs less nd less time to develop nd mture. ln mny wys, he is still seriously ngry nd rging child. lf he hd to live with himself, it would cuse him cute nxiety, so it's better to put it out of his mind." Following suicide mempt while witing sentence in l9b4 (during which he tried to hng himself nd ws cut down, cliniclly ded, nd resuscitted), Bint hs been the subject of countless psychitric reports, nd been sent for psychitric cre nd counselling. But he clims lwys to hve conned counsellors by telling them wht they wnted to her, nd hs often bsconded. "Tlking bout things is overrted," he sys. "The best wy to del with terrible things is just to forget them, to cut them out Iil<e cncer." The trgedy of Pul Bint is tht he is sne nd self-wre enough to l<now tht he is only conning himself. He understnds tht inherent in his cons is the l<nowledge they will lwys ctch up with him, tht they re self-destructive. He knows his scms re selfish nd self-grtifying, but justifies them s "crimes of intellect, not violence nd intimidtion". And he knows tht, hd he chosen different pth, he my well hve been bright enough, nd by some ccounts cring enough, to hve ctully become doctor. At the end of our long lunch, Bint decides ro show me letter, written on his Psion but never sent, to Mndy Schotel, who he sys is the one true love of his life. lts sentiments sound little too pt nd prctised. bur he ppers sincere. Prt of the letter reds, "l got lost somewhere long the wy nd the truth is I'm still lost. l've been so mny people tht I don't lcnow who I m nymore. I don't even remember who Pul Bint is. Sometimes people experience such wful things tht they spend their entire lives running wy from those experiences. We pirrt our own pictures of life becuse sometimes the relity is so pinful. And I m guilty of tht." HE ISALSO GUILTY of cusing considerble emotionl hrm to his mny femle victims. While he is not s good-loolcing s he thinl<s (lthough he bers pssing resemblnce to the Mccnn cln of cting brothers), dyes his hir, nd clims he is 35 yers old (39 would be closer), King Con does seem to hve fir degree of success with women. Some of it cn be dismissed s prt of his dvnced fntsy life. At one poinr during night on the town with Bint, he encpsulted his mcho ppel s "King Con, King Dong", nd quoted me fvourite picl<-up line: "lt took one finger to get you over here. Just imgine wht I could do with the other four." But the cuttings re lso littered with tles of women he hs impressed nd conned using one of his mny lises, women he moved in with nd bused finncilly nd devstted emotionlly (lthough few, it must be sid, hve subsequently sold their stories ro the mbloids). One such victim, n intelligent creer womn in her erly thirties whom l'll cll Kte, ws involved in reltionship with Bint during the summer of 200 l. After meeting him in br in Edinburgh, for four weel<s she believed tht she ws dting mergers nd cquisitions mnger nmed Richrd Cmpbell-Breeden, who worl<ed t investment bnl<ing firm Goldmn www.esquire.co.uk @ 57
$r',vffistt&ayxmru Schs in London but who spent time on exposed him when she phoned Goldmn Schs to check the mobile-phone number he hd given her, so she is quick to stte business in Edinburgh. Cmpbell-Breeden exists, but he is in fct Mnging Director of Goldmn Schs. Although he often styed t Kte's flt nd begn to l<eep clothes nd personl belongings there, Bint told her tht he owned lrge flt in London, converted wrehouse in Leith, Edinburgh, nd hd tht he ws not exctly mster of deception. Although Bint prides himself on his memory nd ppernce, there were inconsistencies in the fcts he told Kte nd she thought the qulity of his ccent, nils nd teeth poor for someone to property in George Street, Edinburgh, owned by his fther, who he sid ws the judge in the Jill Dndo cse. He drove Porsche nd Jg. He sid he hd bool<ed holidy in the Turks nd Cicos islnds in the Cribben nd ws pressing her to go with him, ll expenses pid. Bint told her he hd been offered job in NewYork, where he climed to hve supposedly so ffluent. ccess worked for seven yers, nd wnted her to go with him. He tried to persude her to give him {5,000 for Throughout my time with him, it ws hrd not to notice the odd slip, the l<ind of "tells" tht poker plyers often lool< for in order to scertin when n opponent is bluffing. Bint pronounced coup with superfluous "p", nd mnged to mke ilrto.-,lttficn en lx for Ki Lt" n offshore investment he to 100,000 insurnce scm set up by the ctss mysetr s, o."r;; Turkish Mohmmed (or"mr Met", s Bint knew him), he lso tried to con the court by stting he ws mnger t Belug's nightclub in Edinburgh, clim quicl<ly disproved by stff there. It took the jury just 20 minutes to find him guilty, fter which he even disputed two of his previous convictions, only to hve the prosecutlon prove he ws lying by producing fingerprint evidence. He ws sentenced to two yers, nine months. During the tril it emerged tht Bint hd stolen the cr to impress women he ws seeing t the time. "l ws involved in reltionships with bout four or five women," Bint ;,. the court. ';;"i,;";;,t. " I W S i nvo lve d Wit h She to terms with the shock, her emotions hrdened nd turned to nger. "l trusted him so much nd I've been hurt bdly; Pper roses now I hte him with vengence," she "l'm sure deep down he's not vindictive person. He ws intelligent, feturing Blnt's former "girlfriends" Nikki very ffectionte physiclly, nd he hd rel gentle side to him. But he ws very I ws lso living I occsionlly sent the wrons text messge to the wrong person." four or five women. lt ws lhili=, H:.'""JIir iil: ffi",," qu ite d ifficu lt. loccsionllg ;:#ffijl"l::il:.1;"h:l}:fi::' sent the wrong text messge he mde me feel very specil." to the wrong person" explined tht, once she hd come sid.,/ with one womn. 1111,*lx::,;":yj1lTJ[:J,']:&?; Cuttings from the'0ilg Mil', 1 Juig 2000, Gonelli, Jne Griffith nd Mndg Schotel, nd from the'news ofthe cynicl nd clculting, nd lthough I'm World', 15 August 1999, pretty resilient, I'm now relly struggling to trust people. He's destroyed my fith in people nd I l<now it sounds melodrmtic but I thinl< it will be with me for the rest of my life. And it sickens me tht when he's relesed, he will do it gin - he will wreck the lives of more innocent, unsuspecting women." Kte ws suspicious of Bint's clims from the time she met him, nd eventully focusing on his exploits 5B @ www.esquire.co.uk businessmn nmed Metmh Abdullh soon fter she hd discovered Bint ws frud, nd lust couple of weeks before he ws rrested. "lt's been very upsetting nd struggle ro cope wirh becuse I would tit<e f owner of the grge nd ffi',;ffii::ff* her n instnt return of six times tht sum. to Kte l l5dc --'En.. told ws setting up, promising I spoke PAUL BINT CAME T0 TRIAL, for steling the {55,000 Aston Mrtin DB7, t Glsgow sheriff court in November lst yer. Alleging he ws the "fll guy nd ptsy" in in the world of medicine Louis Vuitton sound closer to "Low-ise Vi-tu-on". His drink of choice ws Bileys on ice. His ers re pierced. Although he climed to hve so mny clothes, he often wore the sme item twice. The {3,000 Versce suit he bosted of turned out, when we eventully mnged to get him to tke it off, to hve been mde by Willim Anderson & Sons, George Street, Edinburgh, nd ws second-hnd. Yet it didn't seem to mtter to him if others believed him s long s he believed it himself. "He's told so mny different people so mny different stories tht he's got in muddle nd he trips himself up big-time," sid Kte. "He's ment to be super con mn nd frudster, but he's not very good one s fr s I'm concerned." "He ws \:r lil<e big lump of solid confidence," sid nurse Andre Mclren, who, like Kte, l<new Bint s Richrd Cmpbell-Breeden. "He hd n nswer for bsolutely everything nd you couldn't give him red neck with blow torch." Appeling to the sheriff to send Bint for psychitric reports, ple tht ws quickly rejected, Bint's own lwyer, Joe Beltrmi, sid: "My client is suffering from psychotic depressive condition. Press reports clled him'king Con'nd one newspper even superimposed picture of crown on his hed. They should hve imposed dunce's cp with the'd' emblzoned for ll to see." Outside the court, n Edinburgh detective, who hd previously worlced on cses involving Bint, sid he considered the con mn's whole life to be lie. "l don't thinl< he told the truth t ny time in court," sid the detective. "But he mkes for pretty hopeless con mn becuse he gets cught ll the time nd hs gined nothing from his deceptions. He only hs the suit he stnds up in." It ws {3,000 suit from Versce. @