Joshua Teale, 32, was jailed for five years and three months after stealing £177,000 from a man he met while working at Arla Foods in Leeds, using an elaborate romance scam involving a fake nurse and Covid hospitalisation lies
A devastated victim has vowed never to enter another relationship after being conned by a romance fraudster who swindled him out of £177,000.
The victim first encountered Joshua Teale, 32, while both were employed at Arla Foods. Teale, of Middlecroft Road, Leeds, had joined the company through an agency, and the two developed a friendship, regularly chatting together.
They lost touch when Teale departed after 18 months, but a cruel twist of fate would bring them back together.
Prosecutor Jordan Millican told Leeds Crown Court on Friday: “At some point in 2020 the complainant was in McDonald’s in Hunslet and saw the defendant. They spoke for a while and exchanged contact details.”
He continued: “The next morning, the defendant called the victim, saying bailiffs were at his address and that they were going to take all of his things if he didn’t give them £4,000. He [the man] was trusting and gave him the cash outside Morrisons in Hunslet. He made promises to pay the victim back”, reports Leeds Live.
A month on, the victim heard from Teale once more, who this time claimed his mother had passed away and that he was in need of urgent financial help. He alleged he had been relocated to Blackpool as mental health services in Leeds were at capacity and that he had been residing in a hostel.
He said he needed funds to cover legal fees relating to his mother’s property. The court was told that Teale’s mother was very much alive. Mr Millican stated: “He [the victim] agreed to pay around £1,900 a month. Most contact was over email or texts and he apparently received an email from the defendant’s solicitor. After doing checks on the solicitor, he found there was no match.”
The court was told the victim had assumed Teale was heterosexual as he had referenced former girlfriends and was taken aback when he proposed a romantic relationship in 2022.
The court heard: “The victim was in shock and didn’t expect the relationship to develop that way. He said that over a few months they began talking every day over text and email. The defendant would refer to him as ‘Babe’ and sent images of a sexual nature. He sent images of himself and was made to feel like they were in a relationship.”
It was revealed the man laboured extensive hours and secured a loan to maintain the £1,900 payments to Teale, who persistently fabricated stories and devised fresh schemes to elicit sympathy from the man.
He subsequently claimed to have contracted Covid-19 and was hospitalised in London due to capacity issues in Leeds. The victim transferred additional funds “to support medical bills” before being informed that Teale was under the care of a nurse named Julie.
Mr Millican stated: “He said that because he was so poorly the nurse had his phone and was replying to messages on his behalf. The man had never spoken with her, it was always over text or email. The defendant told the victim he had been moved to a hospital in Glasgow and needed money to pay Julie and medical bills.”
His elaborate deception finally unravelled on 19 May 2023, when the victim visited a Lloyds Bank branch to transfer money to him. A member of staff grew suspicious after reviewing previous transactions to the same account and raised the alarm.
Mr Millican said: “Since 2020, he had paid £130,000 to him. She put a marker on his record if he was to return to transfer money. 10 days later, he asked for more to be sent. Due to the flag, staff stopped the victim and took him into a private room and questioned why he was sending money to the complainant.
“Following banking protocol, the clerk called the police. Prior to them arriving, the victim called Julie and asked her to get the victim to call him back. He left a voicemail. Around five minutes later, he called him back and the phone was handed to the bank manager and he confessed to it all being a lie. He stated he had a huge gambling debt.”
The court was told that officers arrived to find the victim claiming Teale was his partner, hospitalised, and that he was sending him funds. Officers spoke with Teale by phone, who protested his innocence and promised to repay the victim.
The victim declined to cooperate further and officers departed the bank.
The prosecutor added: “They got a call 30 minutes later to inform them that the defendant had turned up at the bank, despite alleging to be in Glasgow. He was arrested and stated he knew what he had done.”
The court heard the man he had deceived was “living in misery” and couldn’t afford electricity, while working two jobs to repay his debts.
Teale’s bank statements revealed a “huge part of the money sent to him was frittered away on gambling websites.”
In a victim personal statement, the man told the court he will never enter another relationship. He said: “This case is still something of a surprise to me even now because the last thing I expected is that this individual could turn into a criminal. I put my life basically on hold for absolutely nothing.”
He continued: “They knew that the only thing I wanted was my own car and now that has been deferred until I have rectified my finances. The key saving grace I have is not classing this person as a former partner. A true partner wouldn’t even consider such disgusting and disgraceful behaviour. He told me his mum was deceased but she was and still is very much alive.”
The victim added: “He took everything from me and I worked every day to support him and his needs. I gave up three years of my life sacrificing everything I wanted to achieve and staved myself and lived on the bare minimum to support him. I lost a significant amount of weight and was running on a few hours sleep each day,”.
He added: “I’m still not sure where all of that money has gone. This whole ordeal has left me with no trust of others, especially romantic relationships. I have been used and exploited and will never recover.”
The court was told that Teale had four previous convictions for 11 offences, including one of fraudulently using registration marks from 2012.
Speaking in mitigation, Matthew Harding revealed that Teale had entered a guilty plea to fraud on the day of his trial, saying: “It came very much at the 11th hour, and that is something he expresses regret about. He knows he ought to have these proceedings to an end but it was perhaps the fear of the inevitable.
“This offending was born out of a long-standing addiction to gambling. It perhaps provides an explanation for it. This was not born out of a desire to enrich and live a high life, but of a compulsion – a compulsion of his own making, but an addiction.”
The court also heard that Teale had endured a troubled upbringing. Mr Harding went on to say: “He knows that he will go to custody today. There are, it seems, looking to the future, some stabilising factors…His future is not without hope. It is often said by defendants that this is the last time, but through me he expresses that.”
Recorder Paige sentenced Teale to five years and three months behind bars, ordering him to repay the full amount stolen, in excess of £177,000, to his victim. While incarcerated, he will repay the sum at £1 per month, with that figure to be reviewed upon his release.
The judge additionally imposed a restraining order until further notice, barring Teale from making any contact with the victim.
The judge noted that Teale’s gambling addiction had begun with scratch cards and slot machines 16 years ago.
