A love rat conman who stole £10,000 from his partner and spent the cash on luxury glasses and shirts has been jailed for 12 months.
Cruel Daniel Moffatt, 31, “systematically raided” Emma Willis’ account for almost three years during their “happy and loving” relationship.
The coffee shop worker stole money from her bank using her pin and transferred it into his own account before spending the cash on himself.
A court heard Miss Willis, 30, “thought she would be spending the rest of her life” with Moffatt.
But the couple, who got together in September 2012, split up in June last year after she learned he had been “spending evenings with another woman”.
Miss Willis then noticed that money had been taken from her account and phoned police.
Moffatt, of Long Eaton, Derbys., pleaded guilty to theft at an earlier hearing and was jailed for 12 months at Derby Crown Court on Friday (7/10).
Sentencing him, Recorder Mark Butterworth said he committed a “series of serious offences” which were “selfish” and “dishonest”.
The judge also imposed a restraining order which bans Moffatt from contacting Miss Willis.
The court heard the victim gave her partner the details of her bank account, including her pin number, so he could buy necessities.
But prosecutor Gregor Purcell said throughout 2013 and 2014 Moffatt was removing money from her account and “not paying his way”.
He added: “The defendant was working in a coffee shop and was trying to make a living as a freelance journalist.
“They came to an agreement that Miss Willis had regular income so she would pay the direct debits and the defendant would pay from time to time.
“He would use her account to withdraw cash and to make payments. It was sometime later that the element of dishonestly was discovered.
“Throughout the three-year relationship, there had been times when she thought she would be spending the rest of her life with this defendant.
“She (Miss Willis) had never been in debt before and lives a modest life. She is fearful enforcement agencies will be coming to her.
“She is very hurt. The entire relationship was a lie.”
Speaking outside court, Miss Willis said Moffatt had left her unable to trust another partner after she thought they had the “perfect relationship”.
She added: “He was really lovely and thoughtful. He made me feel really special.
“That’s why I gave him my pin number, he seemed very trusting and I thought it was a good agreement.
“He said he could do the shopping for me because I work late. We agreed to split everything and pay for things.
“He told me he would take the stress away from me and because he was not working regularly he would sort things out.
“Now I know what he was really doing. I was always so busy so rarely checked the account.
“I wanted to one day marry this man.He was very clever and manipulative. I was with him for nearly three years and I had no idea this was happening.
“I discovered he was cheating on me and that was terrible. We split up and then I took a closer look at my account and saw the money had gone.
“I’m not sure how I will ever believe a partner again. Not only did he cheat, but he took £10,000 from me.”
Lauren Fisher, defending, said Moffatt has no previous convictions and was on a zero-hours contract at his cafe job which doesn’t provide a “great deal of money”.
She added: “He was in financial difficulty and debts. He was overdrawn.
“He is extremely remorseful. It was his first serious relationship. He is disgraced by himself.”
