'Evil' Ian Beale lookalike on the run who conned grans is the 'devil incarnate'
A daughter has issued a desperate plea to catch an “evil” Casanova con man she blames for putting her heartbroken mum in a care home.
Hazel Wilkins was allegedly duped out of her life savings by on-the-run Eastenders Ian Beale lookalike, John Eric Wells. Her daughter, Lynsey, says the man wanted by South Yorkshire Police is responsible for her mum’s devastating decline. She told The Mirror: “The stress he put her through gave her PTSD. He destroyed her and he is the reason she is in a home now.”
Fantasist Wells, whose £8.9million Lotto win lies inspired the movie, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’ starring Martin Kemp, was once jailed for three years for his jackpot scam. Wells, originally from the Doncaster area, tricked his wife, family, friends and bank managers while going on a frenzied spending spree. He is now being hunted by South Yorkshire Police over a series of romance scams.
Lynsey Wilkins and mum Hazel WilkinsThe dad-of-two allegedly conned three heartbroken grans out of £400,000 and has been on the run for almost five years and is believed to have fled overseas. One of his victims, Hazel, 74, is now in a care home but before she was taken ill, she told The Mirror how she had to sell her home after he allegedly fleeced her of her life savings.
“That man has ruined my life and who knows how many others,” she said. "I had a lovely family home, and a great job and I was happy when I met him. “Now I have nothing and I will never be happy again. It’s too late to get back what he has taken from me. I hate him so much and I think about him and what he has done to me and my family every second of every day. He is the devil incarnate to me.”
Ten tips to deal with life and help your loved ones after Alzheimer's diagnosis
The character Ian Beale (BBC/Kieron McCarron)Hazel’s daughter Lynsey Coleman, 41, from Crawley in West Sussex, speaking to the Mirror on Friday, is pleading with the police to catch up with him. She said they want to be able to give “her peace” by telling her he’d been caught. She said: “My mum is in a home now with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia and we know that it was made worse by him. “She doesn’t mention him by name but she still talks about ‘that man who stole all my money’. “It’s heartbreaking because it just shows he has ruined her life.”
The Mirror believes Wells, last seen in 2019 running a bar in Thailand, has now travelled to Vietnam - the home of his new wealthy lover.
“The police should be going to get him. It won’t get my mum back but I could have had my mum longer,” Lynsey told The Mirror. “He ruined her life. I am desperate for justice for her. I want to be able to tell her; ‘that man has been caught and he’s in jail’. It would give her some peace. She’s been in two homes now, the first time was in October 2022. I don’t think she would have gone downhill so quickly if she hadn’t been through this. I truly think she is in a home because of the stress of it all. “
Lynsey told how her mum met Wells online and he’d posed as a millionaire hotelier. He proposed a year later, while they were having a meal in a Brighton hotel, in front of her two daughters. Lynsey, who has a seven-year-old son called Arthur, said: “I was living with my mum in Brighton when she first met him in 2014. I saw him loads.
“We were out for dinner at a hotel when he just stood up and gave her a ring and said ‘Will you marry me? He didn’t even go down on one knee. But she was smitten. I was happy she’d found someone but I started thinking something wasn’t right.
“Even my ex-partner said at the time: ‘Don’t let your mum marry him’. One minute he came down in a Bentley and the next in a Jaguar, things didn’t add up. For someone who was supposed to have millions and millions he was asking to borrow money, he borrowed £5,000 from me, borrowed from my mum and my aunty. He said he had some forms he had to fill out for a restaurant opening in Guernsey.”
But she said she failed to get her mum to believe her suspicions. “When I was younger I used to get jealous about any boyfriends she had because I enjoyed having time with her. So when I started voicing concerns about John, mum just thought I was being jealous again. I said to mum, ‘Don’t do it’ but they booked the wedding and everything.
“When it got near enough to the time, he cancelled it. But my mum only found out when she called the hotel and they told her it had been cancelled. She had the dress and everything. She was hysterical.”
Hazel’s sister, Wendy Whyte, recalled when Hazel found out the truth about her terrible fiance. She told The Mirror: “She hadn’t heard from him for a little while, so phoned one of his sisters who told us to look up ‘lottery liar’.
"So we did and we then found out what sort of man he was. All of a sudden she just broke down in my kitchen. He ruined everything, he’s taken away a nanna, a mum and a sister. Her life totally changed after him. She had no confidence left. She was not the same person ever again.”
Woman who 'died' at care home wakes up when she arrives at funeral home
Her daughter Lynsey, in a message to Wells, is urging Wells to hand himself in. In a direct message to him, she said: "Why did you do this to my mum? She didn’t deserve this. You should hand yourself in. You’ve done enough damage now and ruined enough lives.”
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police confirmed on Friday that Wells was still wanted, saying: “Police would like to hear from anyone who has seen or spoken to Wells recently or has information which may help officers with their enquiries. “It is possible Wells is currently living outside the UK. If you see him, or you have any information which may help, please call South Yorkshire Police on 101.”
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
