You know how much we love celebrating love stories on this blog, however, there are some love stories that are not just worth celebrating. Jane Cole knew that the Gambia in Western Africa had a
reputation for being a hotbed of holiday romances between young local men and
older British women but when she decided to take a break
there with her friend Vanessa in 2005, she never thought she’d find herself
caught up in one.
from Rothwell, who considered herself too sensible to get embroiled with a
younger man.
28-year-old Nigerian bartender, and his charming, attentive nature drew her in
immediately.
Michael quickly made it clear he wanted more than just a one-night stand while
she was on holiday in the country. He wanted a relationship. ‘I was completely
sucked in,’ said Jane.
When Michael proposed, Jane decided to keep it a secret from her younger sister
Tracy, knowing she would disapprove. Instead, she flew to The Gambia and
married him, leaving Tracy to call her a fool.
might have been right.
Jane’s house with her in the UK, even though she had set her heart on a new
life in The Gambia, as they had discussed. Nonetheless, she loved him, so she
agreed.But as soon as the couple arrived in the UK, Jane began to question Michael’s
loyalty, especially when he began disappearing for long periods.
After calling a number that appeared frequently on his phone bill, she reached
a woman with whom Michael had been having a relationship for six years.
‘When I confronted Michael he just admitted it and laughed. “People laugh
then they see us together,” he said.
sunk to an all-time low. He had drained me of everything, both financially and
emotionally.”I blamed myself for being foolish and falling for it. I’m supposed to be
intelligent but I never had an inkling. I believed everything he said. And if
he had told me the woman was just a friend, I’d still have believed him.’
Tracy admits worrying that her sister might take her own life, because Michael
had robbed her of everything. But Jane is not alone when it comes to confidence
tricksters scamming women in matters of the heart on holiday.
Around 1,000 British people are victims of dating scams each year, according to
the Office of National Statistics.
speaking to widow Jeanette Styles, 56, from Whitby, while in Sorrento, Italy.
Handsome and polite, he told her he worked as an undercover agent in the White
House.
‘I fell for him. He seemed lovely. He came to see me in England and never left.
It felt like we’d been together for years,’ said Jeanette.
loaning him money, always promising to pay her back but never doing it.
One night, when he became aggressive, she called the police. They came and
arrested him and revealed he was a wanted man, on the run from Interpol for
committing fraud and theft all over the world.
‘I felt emotionally betrayed,’ said Jeanette. ‘It was a lot to deal with and I
get quite emotional when I think about it. I don’t think I’ll ever get over
it.’Jeanette is now rebuilding her life with her new partner Adrian, a local chef,
and Rudy is in jail, but she has been left with the scars of her ordeal with
the man who called himself ‘Rudi Sloot’.
culled from Dailymail
