FORMER solicitor Mathew Curtis conned car sales companies and helicopter companies who lost thousands of pounds.

Curtis used a pre-paid credit card system to buy vehicles from a number of garages.

He also used the same "forced sale code" to buy helicopter flights, including one from Hawarden to the Hebrides.

Companies lost out to the tune of £120,600 because the banks later informed them that the transactions should not have been authorised and withdrew the money from their accounts.

That meant they lost the vehicles, or provided services, but were not paid, said barrister Sion ap Mihangel, prosecuting.

Curtis, 35, was jailed for 28 months after he admitted two fraud charges.

He also received a further two months after he admitted stalking a former partner, making two-and-a-half years in all.

A five year restraining order was made not to approach Natalie Hill in any way.

Judge Niclas Parry, sitting at Mold Crown Court, said everything about his offending over a significant amount of time emphasised "selfishness and a total lack of respect or concern for others".

The fraud went on for a significant period of time where companies sold him vehicles but ended up not being paid.

Several companies suffered losses including helicopter companies which had provided him with flights.

He had also defrauded an individual who paid him to provide legal advice from a barrister which did not materialise.

The court heard Curtis, formerly of High Street, Dyserth, had a caution for defrauding someone as a solicitor and had a dishonesty conviction involving a car.

Judge Parry said the stalking was a serious matter in which he threatened to kill her and then himself.

He halted her phone service and set up a dating site in her name.

The court heard he was arrested for fraud after police were contacted by Action Fraud because he had used the same system against a number of companies.

Mr ap Mihangel said Omega Cars lost £23,900 involving four vehicles, Advantage Cars lost £6,000, Elite Helicopters lost a total of £36,000 over various flights costing between £4,000 and £6,000.

Cheshire Trade Centre lost £34,400 over two vehicles and Hebridean Air Services lost £13,400.

Two cars and £13,000 had been returned to the Omega Cars company.

The second fraud involved businessman Phillip Lovatt, a man Curtis, who used to be a practising solicitor, befriended.

He was paid £650 over two occasions to secure advice from a barrister but after meetings had been adjourned his wife became suspicious, checked with a barristers' chambers and no-one knew anything about it.

The stalking offences arose following his treatment of his former partner.

They met through a dating app, he moved in after three months and after six months matters deteriorated.

In December he locked her out of her home, the following day she asked him to leave and even offered to pay him to do so.

But he restrained her on the bathroom floor and threw her phone in the bath.

He threatened to kill her and then himself.

On Boxing Day she forgot to lock the front door and he entered with a hand full of tablets and asked her to take them.

He followed her upstairs with blood all over his hands, pushed her against a bannister and put his hands around her throat.

Curtis sent her a number of text messages and sent messages to her parents in Spain.

He was also seen outside her home in the early hours and he effectively stopped her mobile phone from working.

Curtis ordered a replacement SIM card to be sent to him, and accessed her Facebook and Snapchat accounts and even set up a Tinder account in her name without her knowledge.

"There was an element of control," the prosecutor explained.

In a victim impact statement she told how she had a good life but lost it all because of Curtis.

She had been in a good job with a rented house but gave up her job after he falsely told her that he would support the family financially.

He promised to buy her a car so she sold her own and he promised to take the family on holidays and trips.

She told how his "lies and fantasies" had affected her ability to trust people and had a huge impact on her confidence.

It had affected her relationship with her parents who could see how he was controlling and isolating her.

Defence barrister Simon Killeen said medical reports showed what was going through Curtis' mind during the stalking offences.

He said he agreed with sentencing categories put forward by the judge.