Luxury holidays and lost bank cards - how fake Army major defrauded women on dating apps

He presented as a wealthy pilot, a former Army major who served with Prince Harry, and a man with more than half a million pounds cash at his disposal.

But these were just some of the lies David Griffiths told in a bid to extract thousands of pounds from two women he met on dating apps.

Following his sentencing to three-and-a-half years in prison for two counts of fraud by misrepresentation, his victims Joanne Brandon-Hodgkinson and Helen Moorefield hope that, by speaking out, they will alert possible future victims.

"He groomed me to have sex to get financial gain for himself," said Helen.

"I believe this man has done this to other women, I do not believe we're the only ones."

Griffiths, 52, who is from Malvern in Worcestershire, previously pleaded guilty to defrauding Joanne of £4,500 and Helen of £10,178.42.

Sentencing him on Wednesday, Judge Paul Hobson said the Griffiths "simply didn't care" about his victims when he told "whopping lies".

He added Griffiths went into "elaborate detail" in the stories he made up and "the emotional impact... is hard to overstate".

NHS director Joanne, from New Inn, Torfaen, met Griffiths on the dating app Hinge in August 2022.

"He was, I thought, quite handsome, he was tall, he was terribly well educated, and he knew a lot about a lot," said the 56-year-old.

Griffiths told her all about his glittering Army career, and said he was currently working as operations director for a helicopter company in London's Canary Wharf, with a salary of £120,000.

When police investigated this claim the company did not exist and his salary was actually between £20,000 and £30,000 at this time.

Months after getting together, he said he had changed jobs and was working for Bristow Helicopters as a search and rescue pilot at RAF St Athan in south Wales.

"Our lives revolved around his shift pattern, so for two weeks of every month I didn't see Dave," recalled Joanne.

"I am now convinced that during that period he was probably living a separate life with somebody else."

She said just months into their relationship the first red flags began appearing.

"Whenever Dave needed to pay for anything he would never seem to have his bank cards on him," said Joanne.

Then, when he began his new job at RAF St Athan, there was apparently a delay in him being paid, so she loaned him money to buy new clothes and a smartwatch.

When they decided to book an exclusive holiday with extended family to Dubai and Thailand, Griffiths said he would book it and Joanne duly paid him back for her share.

"I didn't think for a second that the holiday didn't exist," said Joanne.

"I'd seen itineraries, I had a booking reference number."

Griffiths' lies unravelled when he agreed to buy a £650,000 house in Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan in order to be closer to his place of work.

He presented as a cash buyer, having already sold his farmhouse in Oxfordshire. He found a builder, architect and kitchen-maker as the sale progressed.

He and Joanne visited the property several times, on one occasion to attend the homeowner Amanda Sarll's retirement party and meet the neighbours.

But it all unravelled when a relative of Griffiths got wind of the sale after conveyancing paperwork was sent to their home.

They rang the estate agent handling the sale and told them he was not in fact a wealthy pilot but a man with a history of fraud.

After being informed the sale had fallen through, Amanda picked up the phone to Joanne to tell her the man she was dating was not who he said he was.

In reality, the court was told, Griffiths was employed at Newberry International Produce in Newent, Gloucestershire, and rented the £900,0000 Oxford property rather than owning it.

"You have a wave of panic set over you," said Joanne, recalling that phone call.

"The first thing I did was phone the police and I phoned my bank."

She also phoned the holiday company who confirmed the booking reference that Griffiths had given her didn't exist.

"After that, that's when the humiliation hit me - I really didn't want to be the person that this had happened to, I didn't want to be a victim of a fraud and a fraudster."

She said when she confronted Griffiths he initially denied everything before admitting he had lied because he had never felt good enough.

Joanne ended the relationship with Griffiths in July 2023.

Little over a month later, Griffiths met Helen on the dating app Bumble.

"He was very charismatic, we had really good conversations... we never argued," said Helen, a business owner from South Gloucestershire.

Before long, she was falling in love.

"He showed me pictures of his Army life," said the 57-year-old.

"He explained to me he flew in the Army with Prince Harry... that he'd been shot down in one of his helicopters."

The court heard he told Helen he had served in the Army air corps for 27 years, and was an Apache helicopter pilot until 2018.

But, as the relationship progressed, Griffiths became more and more unreliable - often cancelling plans at the last minute.

Helen said one time he told her his sister had died, another time he said that his son had been in a car crash.

When he did turn up, he seemed to be constantly misplacing his bank cards and leaving Helen to pick up the bill.

When confronted by Helen, after she became suspicious, he admitted he was not a pilot, but said he had wanted to impress her. He then tried to convince her to buy a £20,000 camper van.

Then came the exclusive safari holiday - he said he'd booked it and Helen paid him back.

His deceit was uncovered when Helen's son smelt a rat and applied for Clare's Law, external, where you can ask if someone has a history of abusive offending.

His previous history of fraud was exposed when police contacted Helen.

"My whole world came crashing down," recalled Helen.

"I feel embarrassed... I feel violated, I feel coerced, I feel like he's groomed me."

David Pinnell, prosecuting, told the court Griffiths had lied to both women "about his occupation, his wealth, his military past and his future and past purchase of properties".

Daniel Jones, representing Griffiths, said his client "does express remorse for what he has done and he is sorry, for what it is worth, to the two victims".

The court also heard about a previous conviction Griffiths received for fraud. At Worcester Crown Court in 2020, he was convicted for ten counts of fraud involving a charity and received a suspended sentence of 18 months.

Griffiths was sentenced for fraud by misrepresentation on Wednesday, but both Joanne and Helen felt this was inadequate, given everything they experienced.

"I feel very strongly that this is more than fraud," said Joanne.

"Whilst I gave my consent to a sexual relationship, had I known what I know now, I would never have done that and I think it's really important that the Sexual Offences Act has that provision written into it.

"I think it's a violation of trust and a confidence in a relationship - and that should be seen as a crime as well."

Both women have had the money Griffiths defrauded them of reimbursed by their banks.

The MoD told the BBC its records showed he had only ever been in the Territorial Army, now called the Army Reserve, and was also a former Army Cadet Force volunteer.

Bristow Helicopters, which operates the search and rescue base at MOD St Athan, said it had no record of him working for them.

Griffiths will face a proceeds of crime hearing on 23 November.

Both Joanne and Helen said they were unhappy with how the police dealt with their cases.

Joanne said she had not had a positive experience with Gwent Police and had experienced poor communication from the force.

She believed her case was not always taken seriously because it was seen as a romance fraud.

Gwent Police said Joanne gave them her initial account on 9 July 2023 and David Griffiths gave two voluntary interviews on 18 December 2024 and 6 January 2025.

"For a period during the investigation into David Griffiths, there was lapse in communication with one of the victims and a written apology was issued," a spokeswoman said.

It added it investigated all reports of fraud, including romance fraud, thoroughly and hoped the successful conviction of Griffiths demonstrated that "anyone coming forward to report will be taken seriously".

Helen said she faced hours of questioning after Griffiths' lies were exposed, something she found an ordeal.

She also said she had to facilitate the handing over of information between forces.

A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Police, which dealt with Helen's case before it was handed onto Gwent Police, said: "We're sorry for any additional frustration and distress caused during the lengthy investigation. We are always trying to improve the service we offer to people who are targeted by these heartless fraudsters."

Both women said people had asked them how they didn't know they were being lied to - but they refuse to feel shame over Griffiths' crimes.

"You feel ashamed in the beginning but I don't feel ashamed anymore," said Joanne.

"He is the perpetrator... he infiltrated my life and my family and my finances. He should be the one that should feel the shame, not me."