A heartless conman who targeted an 83-year-old and conned her into handing over �26,920 in “fees” to release a bogus �200,000 lottery win has bee jailed for 16 months.

Father-of-three Sergius Ene, 43, of Rushden Gardens, Clayhall received the bulk of the money swindled from the pensioner, who has not seen a penny since.

He pleaded guilty to unlawfully retaining a �19,500 bank credit and was told by Croydon Crown Court Judge Nicholas Ainley: “It is always a mean trick to play on people and having got the money you decided to spend it so she will not get it back.”

Prosecutor Mr. Julius Capon told the court the victim received a fake “Euromillions” letter announcing the prize in June 2009 and she was tricked into sending a �420 cheque to secure the funds.

She sent another �7,000 cheque to purportedly authorise the win then a �19,500 money transfer to an account called Delta Venture International, which was under Ene’s control.

A further �45,000 was demanded and the pensioner, from Northampton, was in the process of arranging a bank transfer when staff at her Nationwide branch halted the transaction and alerted the police.

Ene was eventually tracked down and arrested in June 2010 and charged in February, last year.

Ene claimed through his lawyer Dora O’Malley that he had not been involved in a scam and thought the money he received was in respect of a mortgage he had applied for, though he said he considered he should have investigated it further before spending the money.

However, his claims were rejected by Judge Ainley. As he jailed Ene he said : “He simply must be part of the scam that takes money from this woman.

“I am not going to abandon common sense.”