Man splashes £70,000 on holidays and his mum’s wedding, all funded by sickening crime

Connor Turner, 21, stole £71,340 by hacking his vulnerable victims’ accounts before spending it on holidays, designer clothing and restaurants

Connor Turner, 21

A conman stole over £70,000 by impersonating two other men and spent the money on a Jet2 holiday, a lavish trip to Malta for his mum’s wedding and at Costco. Connor Turner plundered his victims, including an OAP with serious health issues, before treating himself to designer clothes, fast food and fancy meals out at restaurants.

The pensioner was left fearing he could lose his life savings and home after he was “hacked and pillaged” by Turner. However, the fraudster demonstrated “little or no empathy” towards his victims in what was his second fraud campaign, having previously stolen another £60,000 in an almost identical fraud when he was a teenager.

Liverpool Crown Court heard on Thursday (March 19), that Turner, of Finborough Road in Walton, Liverpool, “embarked upon a course of conduct to hack and pillage the accounts of two vulnerable individuals of advancing years”. This enabled the 21 year old to steal a total of £71,340.90 “for the benefit of himself and his family”.

James Rae, prosecuting, described how Turner then used these funds on fast food and designer clothing from online retailers Moda Bandidos and Yelir World, as well as making purchases from Costco, Jet2 and Booking.com and withdrawing thousands of pounds in cash. He also spent £3,418.76 with Emirates as he booked a family trip to Malta for his mother and step father’s wedding, also amassing “significant spending” at restaurants while on the Mediterranean island.

One of those targeted in the scam was a 69-year-old, whose mobile phone number and email address Turner was able to gain control of before “ravaging” his PayPal account. The defendant then made a series of bank transfers into the bank account of a business named “Lee and the Guys”, which he had set up under the name of his “alter ego” Lee Adam Cooper, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Turner also pilfered funds from his victim’s GMB Credit Union account and rerouted his pension after purporting that the real Mr Benton required the funds to undergo surgery following previous health issues, as well as seeking to take out loans of up to £20,000 in his name. He went on to target a second complainant, a 58-year-old, by emptying his Manchester Credit Union account, pocketing £6,237.39 in the process.

His latest crimes “repeated a similar course of conduct” committed between the ages of 15 and 17, when Turner stole £66,551 by fraudulently gaining access to the phones and accounts of a woman and five different companies. This led to him being handed 12-month in a young offenders’ institute suspended for a year by the same court in September 2023, with his return to offending coming a matter of months after the expiry of this sentence.

Martine Snowdon, defending, told the court that her client’s autism spectrum disorder meant that he had a “limited ability to reflect on the consequences” and said: “These are features which mitigate what is otherwise persistent and repetitive offending. Some difficulties in the family background in his childhood are significant. He probably does have greater needs than somebody without his mental functioning and ASD.

“His particular needs are suited to structure, boundaries, rules and regulation. He has expressed surprise at being in custody, not appreciating that he would end up in prison environment as a result of his offending.

“He has been in custody now for four months. It is not insignificant for a young man. The court might be able to say that the deterrent that ought to follow has taken effect.”

Turner admitted a total of 33 charges, including unauthorised access to a computer, unauthorised access to computer with intent to commit a further offence, fraud by false representation, using criminal property, transferring criminal property and failure to comply with a Section 49 notice, having given police false passcodes for his electronic devices following his arrest. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Berghaus tracksuit top, he was jailed for four years.

Sentencing, Judge Louise Brandon said: “Your offending shows high technical competence, the targeting of vulnerable individuals and a high risk of repetition. It is very clear that money was taken and moved very quickly. You were setting up multiple identities and companies to further your offending.

“These offences were committed over the course of January to August 2025, about eight months. They represent a sustained, sophisticated and highly intrusive campaign of hacking and cyber fraud, targeting, primarily, two victims.