A man from Swindon has been sentenced to three years and six months after defrauding people out of deposits for properties that weren't his.

David Russell, 36, of Fleet Street, was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on February 20 for five counts of fraud between April 2023 and March 2024 after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing.

The victims all found properties being advertised on Facebook and contacted the person they thought was either the owner of the property or the property manager but were in fact Russell advertising properties that were mainly on Airbnb.

In a statement read to court, one of Russell's victims described Russell as,"a nice man, and I didn’t suspect a thing. It was only when we returned to the flat to sign the tenancy agreement that we realised something wasn’t right.

"He wasn’t at the flat, and he told us to let ourselves in using the door code. I thought this was strange and ... I started to think this was a scam. I hated that he gave me permission to let myself into a flat that wasn’t his; he had no right to do this. I felt like I had done something wrong."

Local Crime Investigator Deborah Jones said, "Russell is an accomplished fraudster and was able to manipulate multiple victims into giving him their hard-earned money in good faith. This was on the understanding that they were dealing with a professional landlord and they would have somewhere to live. 

"This has put a huge strain on the victims who were left with no deposit for another home and, at times, homeless.

"I would like to thank the victims for reporting these offences and putting their trust in Wiltshire Police to investigate this."

If you think you have been a victim of fraud you can find out details of how to report to us here

In an emergency always call 999.

You can also report to Action Fraud