• He seized around £1 million ($1,270,000) from several women
• He was sentenced to 17 years in prison

A man believed to be the biggest "romantic conman" in Britain was sentenced after deceiving several women out of around £1 million ($1,270,000).

Nigel Baker exploited five single mothers he met through dating apps, urging them to take out large loans and sell their homes to fund his gambling addiction.

Baker was sentenced to 17 years in prison, believed to be the longest sentence ever imposed for a "romantic fraud" crime in Britain.

A police officer in court, who was one of the victims, said she felt emotionally violated by his deception: "What I thought was love and connection was actually manipulation and deceit to gain financial profit."

The court heard that Baker, obsessed with gambling, convinced the women to invest money in what he claimed was an online betting project, assuring them their money was risk-free, but he used it to gamble for his own benefit.

He managed to seize around £1 million ($1,270,000) from the victims, who included businesswomen, accountants, and police officers.

One of the victims, an accountant and grandmother in her sixties, said: "He deserves punishment for all the pain and financial losses he caused to every family he destroyed with his lies and deceit. He is predatory and should be imprisoned and the key thrown away."

The victims explained that Baker requested money for various reasons, including supporting his children, repairing his father’s boiler, or paying veterinary bills for his dog.

Baker threatened the victims’ relationships — three of them overlapping — if they did not provide more money, and when their funds ran out, he returned to dating apps to look for new victims.

The crimes Baker committed spanned eight years between 2012 and 2020, involving five women.

He was unanimously convicted on 18 counts of fraud by false representation after a month-long trial.

Judge Charles Falk described Baker as a "charlatan" and said he exploited his victims’ trust ruthlessly and mockingly.

He added: "You presented yourself as a grieving divorced husband and loving father, promising each woman marriage or a permanent partnership and a bright future, while your only goal was financial gain. You cared for none of them and exploited their trust without mercy."