A conman tricked his lover into giving him more than £175k, claiming he would invest the money in expensive watches.

Privately-educated Kye Hughes, from Rochester, wooed his victim with tales of his life as a musician and an actor.

But now a judge has heard how Hughes fleeced her and her family until she was left almost penniless.

At the time, his victim – who he met through online dating site Plenty of Fish – was driving a Mercedes and working as an engineer.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how she was left fearful of being attacked by mystery men and was so devastated by what had happened she moved house and, for a while, her hair fell out.

Hughes, aged 34, of Maidstone Road, Rochester, has been jailed for 40 months after admitting fraud and laundering the money.

The victim was too frightened to attend the hearing in person.

Judge Recorder Daniel Stevenson heard that despite living a lavish lifestyle, Hughes still has £80k of her money in his bank account, while she works 12 hour shifts to repay her parents after borrowing money from them.

"It became a vicious downward spiral and she handed over more and more money...”

Prosecutor Kathryn Drummond said how Hughes met the woman through the online dating app in December 2016 and they began a romantic relationship between January and September 2017.

It was said: "This was a romance fraud whereby Hughes, who had a good upbringing and a private education, met this woman online and began manipulating, deceiving and later threatening her into handing over £176k to fund his lavish lifestyle."

The prosecutor told how the victim initially handed over £105k and at the time was driving a Mercedes and had a "nice" handbag.

Hughes claimed he was a musician but also invested in luxury watches "for extra money".

The prosecutor said: "The hook was that she could double her money if she invested. But after that she heard a series of lies about how the watch had gone and she could never get her money back unless she paid more in.

"It became a vicious downward spiral and she handed over more and more money, taking out payday loans and she even sold her car.”

In August 2017, Hughes began putting pressure on her, claiming it was coming from a third party, which the Crown said was all bogus.

"In Whatsapp messages he says 'they' will come after the victim who had told him she had nothing left to give. Hughes repeatedly asked: 'Just £2000 more’ and the aggression rises," added the prosecutor.

Ms Drummond told how Hughes was "funnelling" some of the money into his personal account.

Hughes blew £80k on "lifestyle" purchases including £3.5k for plastic surgery, £5.4k at a jewellers, between £1k and £2k spent at Bluewater regularly, holiday trips to Portugal and Turkey and £1.2k on Louis Vuitton fashion products.

When he was finally quizzed by police in 2018, the devious Hughes blamed his ex-lover claiming they were both in "some kind of insurance fraud".

He then claimed he had only one bank account and when officers discovered another with £80k he said it was his and not the victim’s money.

"I don't trust anyone and I am not sure I ever will...”

Hughes also said he had worked but refused to answer questions about where and then tried to hoodwink officers into believing the money was his.

In her victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said: "I was 29 when I first met Kye Hughes and we were in a romantic relationship between January and April 2017."

She said that when the relationship "fizzled out" Hughes told her she would lose all the money she had given to him.

"I don't trust anyone and I am not sure I ever will."

She said that because of the threats she felt "intimidated and vulnerable" and her relationship with her father suffered.

Read more: ‘I went undercover to get conned by an internet romance fraudster’

She said she also began losing her hair and worked two jobs to meet the bills, adding: "I am still paying back £600 a month, five and a half years later."

Tasmin Malcolm, defending, said Hughes was now "thoroughly ashamed of his acts but he is not a thoroughly disgusting man."

She claimed he had been a child actor and musician and was now hoping to work selling properties.

The judge jailed Hughes, saying his fraud had caused his victim physical harm

He then ordered an investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover some of the money.