A 'thoroughly dishonest, manipulative and deceitful' cheat who conned his cousin out of £7,000 and then duped his own lawyer, a probation officer and a judge with false claims about his military service in Afghanistan, has been jailed for three years.

In 2022, Ashley Thompson, 29, of Widden Street, Gloucester, avoided jail on a fraud charge after he told Gloucester Crown Court that he was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder following two tours of duty as a soldier in Afghanistan.

But an aunt of Thompson's who read an online news report of Thompson's case informed the police that he had never served in Afghanistan and that his military service had been much shorter than he claimed.

Back before Gloucester Crown Court on Wednesday (February 28), Thompson admitted perverting the course of justice with his lies as well as committing an offence of cultivating cannabis - in addition to the original fraud offence against his cousin.

Jailing Thompson for 36 months Judge Rupert Lowe told him he was an inveterate liar who constantly came up with fictitious stories to try to excuse or explain his criminal behaviour.

Prosecutor Ehsanul Oarith told the court that in December 2020, Thompson contacted his cousin Michael Green and told him he had won £7,000 on an online gambling site. He sent Mr Green a screenshot showing what he had won.

He then persuaded Mr Green to allow the 'winnings' to be paid into his bank account because, he said, he had problems with his own account.

In fact, Thompson had not had a gambling win - he had used Mr Green's bank details to apply for a loan of £7,000 in his cousin's name and in due course that amount was paid into Mr Green's account.

Mr Green transferred the money to Thompson, thinking it was the proceeds of the gambling win - but was later shocked to receive details from Admiral Loans of the loan amount that he owed them.

Mr Oarith said Mr Green, not wanting to be shackled with a loan, had repaid the amount in full to Admiral from his own funds.

Later, another £7,000 arrived in Mr Green's account from Ikano Bank as a result of another application Thompson had made in his name. Mr Green repaid it to the bank immediately.

Mr Green notified police and Thompson was arrested. Thompson falsely claimed to police that the loans had been applied for with Mr Green's knowledge because he wanted to finance buying a new car without his father finding out.

Mr Oarith said that on November 8, 2022, Thompson went before Judge Moira Macmillan at Gloucester Crown Court and admitted the fraud. The judge was persuaded to defer sentence on him for four months after being told by his lawyer and a probation officer that he believed he had undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from two tours of duty in Afghanistan.

In deferring sentence, Judge Macmillan told Thompson: "I understand that you have drug and gambling addictions and over the next four months, I want you to try and sort a few issues out to prove that you are turning your life around."

The judge had been told by Lloyd Jenkins, defending, at that hearing that he had been discharged from the army in 2017, after serving for seven years and over the next few years he split up from his wife and lost his children. He resorted to using cocaine and gambling as an escape from the situation he found himself in.

"He states that he needed the money to pay for a solicitor who represented him at the family court," Mr Jenkins said at that time.

"Yes, his actions were sophisticated to a degree, but it was short lived. It's just one victim. He is not proud of his actions. He believes that he has undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder having served two tours of Afghanistan and suffering from a trauma earlier in his life.

"However, he has begun to turn his life around and has resorted to making music videos in which he is a rapper. He has also set up a roofing business to give him a purpose and a way out of his financial problems.

"Thompson has made some foolish and stupid decisions in trying to resolve his situation. In the process he has lost his best friend and his family has turned against him."

Judge MacMillan told Thompson she would defer sentence till March 2023 to give him time to sort out his life and prove his good intentions.

But soon after the hearing Thompson's indignant aunt read an account of the hearing on a Gloucestershire news website and alerted the authorities that he had lied about his army service and his alleged duty in Afghanistan.

Regarding the cannabis offence, said the prosecutor, police who were investigating the fraud offence went to Thompson's home and found 41 plants growing there. An upstairs bedroom was being used for the growing and the drying and cutting of the plants was being done in the basement.

Thompson was interviewed and claimed, falsely, that two Albanians had coerced him into allowing them to run the cultivation in his home.

His lie was uncovered when police checked his mobile phone history and found that he had been involved in drug supply as well as cultivation.

In one message he told customers and contacts to use WhatsApp exclusively so they could not be traced.

Police enquiries also revealed that a second man, Wayne Hannam, 41, of Marsh Gardens, Cheltenham, was involved in the drug growing with Thompson, added the prosecutor.

Hannam appeared to have been advising Thompson how to maintain and care for the cannabis plants, Mr Oarith added.

Hannam pleaded guilty to the charge of cultivation of cannabis jointly with Thompson. He was sentenced to a 12 months community order with 150 hours of unpaid work and was fined £2,000 plus costs of £425 and a £114 surcharge.

Evie Dean, for Thompson, told the court that he had been struggling with a gambling addiction at the time of the fraud offence against his cousin. He had also been under pressure because of family court proceedings about his having contact with his children, she said.

"He needs help with his addiction and with his mental health," she submitted.

For Hannam, Simon Burch said his client got involved with the cannabis growing because he and Thompson were neighbours and friends. As a result of his arrest and conviction he had resigned from his managerial job and was currently working as a window cleaner.

Judge Lowe told Thompson: "You are a thoroughly dishonest, manipulative and deceitful man."

"When you appeared before Judge Macmillan you said you were suffering from PTSD. That was a lie. You said you had served twice in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2014. That was not true either.

"You said you had seen some horrific things in Afghanistan and they had left their mark on you. All lies. They were repeated by Lloyd Jenkins, your advocate, in mitigation. He proceeded to relate the details of your two tours of Afghanistan and your PTSD.

"All of that appears to have had a bit of an effect on Judge Macmillan, who adjourned for you to provide proof of the roofing business you said you had - which was also a complete invention as far as I can see.

"Then a member of the public, your aunt, read the newspaper report of the hearing and rang to say it was not true. It was looked into, and it was discovered you were lying.

"You were in the army from the ages of 16 to 18 and then again for just over a year in 2016/17. You never went to Afghanistan - it was just made up.

"I also know that when you were in the army you were a pest. The report says 'He is a habitual liar who is not interested in a military career and, to date, he has not provided any benefit to the army.'

"How right they were! A habitual liar. They say: 'He should never be allowed to enlist again or join the Reserves or do anything with the army at all!"