Inside mom’s whirlwind romance with fraudster posing as Ibiza DJ

When Claire met who she thought was a jet-setting Ibiza DJ she was whisked off her ft.

James McNamara – or DJ Sneak as he additionally glided by – handled her to the ‘best’ ten days of her life, together with dinners at The Ivy and journeys to see her in his personal jet.

But unknown to the 43-year-old single mom, she would in reality change into Cieran McNamara’s ultimate sufferer.

McNamara, 37, the serial romance love rat who used a string of false identities to dupe unsuspecting ladies out of £300,000, was jailed for seven years on Tuesday.

He posed as a barrister, firm director and even a pilot to focus on weak, single ladies on courting apps and in unique resorts and golf equipment.

Now, Claire, not her actual title, has shared her story solely with MailOnline – together with the grovelling love be aware that he despatched her from jail.

The pair met on Bumble originally of September 2023 with McNamara claiming he was a world-wide DJ at present primarily based in Ibiza.

Not lengthy after, he mentioned he would jet over from the Spanish island to fulfill her, and the couple’s whirlwind romance started.

Claire mentioned: ‘Our chats on Bumble quickly moved over on to Whatsapp and before I knew it, he was saying that he couldn’t wait to see me.

‘He certainly was a charmer and knew all the right things to say. We got on really well – almost too well.

‘He came across as the most amazing guy – I can really understand why all these women thought they had met their “Prince Charming”.

‘For two weeks he “wined and dined” me – brunches, champagne, everything!’

He also promised to buy Claire a flat in Canary Wharf as he had an extensive property portfolio in London and kept spoiling her with £500 Marks & Spencer vouchers.

She said: ‘He kept saying that he wanted me to be financially secure.

‘At the end of the day I opened him up to my world and I really trusted him.’ 

But suddenly McNamara went quiet.

For a few days, Claire heard nothing but then she received a letter. A letter from HMP Altcourse in Liverpool dated September 30.

It read: ‘Sorry I just disappeared – it wasn’t by alternative. It seems I’ve just a few excellent payments totalling £296,000.

‘On Thursday night (September 28) I had a rude awakening by police saying there was a warrant out for my arrest.’

It continued: ‘Nothing has changed in my mind about you and I have missed you and your touch in the last 72 hours.

‘I have been deemed a flight risk to the police based on my comings and goings out of the UK and for that reason I have been remanded in custody until the matter is resolved.’

McNamara had simply purchased Claire an costly membership at a wellness membership in London and she or he was out of the blue left with a £1,000 invoice.

Looking again, Claire mentioned there have been just a few purple flags – however nothing that instantly raised her suspicions. 

‘He would insist on going as much as pay the invoice and he additionally all the time had two telephones on him – however I simply thought he was a busy businessman,’ she mentioned. 

Claire’s story comes after 5 completely different ladies – claiming they’ve additionally been victims of McNamara – approached MailOnline. 

Danielle – not her actual title – was conned out of £3,200 by the 37-year-old in 2022 after he posed as a high-flying barrister. 

The 40-year-old single mom from Birmingham fell for the love rat after he claimed that he too was going via a painful divorce. 

Speaking solely to MailOnline on Wednesday, she mentioned: ‘It was all about constructing belief at first. He would hear all about my life, and be empathetic, supportive and caring.

‘We would do video calls and he would make me really feel wished, stunning – he exploited the insecurities that his victims had. He was very manipulative.’

‘He would use issues that I had mentioned about my life and twist them to suit his life. He advised me he was going via a divorce – like he knew I had executed.’

But in April 2022, the dynamic of their relationship slowly began to alter. Then the net of lies surrounding cash began.

McNamara first contacted Danielle claiming to be in ‘a little bit of a state of affairs’, that he had been mugged and desperately wanted money to get the practice dwelling.

What began with £20 right here and £30 there quickly snowballed – and inside the area of a month Christian owed Danielle greater than £3,200.

She mentioned: ‘He caught me at a really weak time when my sister was sick in hospital. I had simply come out of a long-term relationship. He took benefit of my variety nature.’

At one level, she was pressured to cancel her daughter’s celebration as a result of she could not afford it.

Danielle continued: ‘He got here up with numerous excuses as to why he could not repay me.

‘It began with he did not have a financial institution card and wished to offer me the cash in particular person and apologised for the inconvenience.

‘As time progressed, he mentioned it was right down to an costly divorce.

‘We organized to fulfill six or seven occasions so he would repay the cash in particular person, however he by no means confirmed up.’

Danielle contacted West Midlands Police about McNamara in August 2022, however she was ‘fobbed off’ and advised to report the crime to Action Fraud.

She mentioned: ‘I discovered numerous proof towards him myself and I used to be prepared to offer all of it to the police… however I used to be fobbed off.

‘I had two cops come round to my home when my youngsters had been there and say this is not fraud. But I knew precisely what it was.

‘The most infuriating factor about this entire state of affairs is that if the police had listened to me then none of this may have occurred – these ladies who did handle to carry prices would by no means have misplaced all that cash.’

The Mail additionally revealed on Wednesday that McNamara’s first sufferer was in reality the grandmother who raised him.

He fleeced Kathleen O’Sullivan out of round £60,000 after repeatedly withdrawing cash from her checking account and raiding a wardrobe the place she stashed money at dwelling.

A relative mentioned the fraudster had a ‘exceptional means to recollect lengthy numbers’ which he additionally used to memorise his grandmother’s financial institution card numbers – utilizing them to pay for resorts across the nation the place he lived the excessive life.

The grandmother took him in as a result of his McNamara’s personal mom, who had well being issues, couldn’t management him.

But across the similar time, the conman additionally started stealing from the Catholic church the place he was taken by Mrs O’Sullivan.

The ‘horrified’ pensioner solely found what was taking place at her beloved church in Binley, Coventry, when the priest got here round to inform her that McNamara, one of many altar boys on the church, had been caught serving to himself to the contents of the gathering field.

McNamara, from Coventry, Warwickshire was finally arrested in Colchester following an investigation by Cheshire Police in September 2023. 

Over a 12-month interval from September 2022, McNamara managed to govern 4 victims in Cheshire, Warwickshire and Hertfordshire at hand over greater than £302,000.

This was greater than a month after Danielle reported him to police.

McNamara was subsequently charged with 4 counts of fraud by false illustration.

Following his arrest officers raided a lock-up being rented by McNamara the place they recovered roughly £19,500 value of name new items – together with a £1,900 Burberry coat, a £400 Burberry Scarf, Dubarry boots, Gucci trainers and a Ping golf set.

Sentencing him to seven years in jail on Tuesday, Judge Simon Berkson mentioned McNamara’s prison document was a major aggravating issue, with many comparable offences prior to now.

Detective Constable Victoria Hazlewood, of Cheshire Police, who led the investigation, mentioned: ‘McNamara is a serial fraudster, and I truly believe that he cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy.

‘During our investigation, we uncovered a web of lies with thousands of text messages which he sent to his victims in order to extort cash to fund his lavish lifestyle.

‘He convinced his victims that he was a millionaire with properties across the country, but in reality, he was unemployed and living out of suitcase.

‘McNamara identified ways he could control and manipulate his victims and throughout the investigation, he has shown no remorse for his actions.

‘He truly believed that he would never be caught by police and that he would never be held accountable for his despicable behaviour.

‘Thankfully, because of the courage and bravery of his victims, and the work of the team here in the economic crime unit at Cheshire Constabulary, McNamara was left with no option other than to admit his guilt.

‘While he is now behind bars, I have no doubt that there are other victims across the country who have been treated in the same way and I would encourage them to come forward.

‘If you believe that you have been targeted by a romance fraudster, or you believe somebody close to you has been targeted, then please contact Action Fraud so you can begin to get the necessary support and prevent other people from becoming victims.’

Efforts to find different belongings belonging to McNamara stay ongoing and all of the gadgets recovered shall be topic to a proceeds of crime listening to.