A Chester man has pleaded guilty to defrauding his victim out of more than £3,000.

Scott Purchase, 35, of Lynwood Road, admitted the charge when he appeared at Chester Magistrates Court on Friday, October 25.

Prosecuting, Robert Earl said the fraud offences occurred between January 22 and February 14, 2023, when Purchase ultimately took £3,323 from his victim, who had mental and physical disorders.

Purchase also doctored screenshots of bank account transactions and made a fake email from the bank to the victim, who was unaware how much money had been lost until he struggled to pay his bills and the victim's brother found there was about £40 left in the account.

Purchase had four previous convictions for 12 offences, including two for theft.

Mr Earl said the victim had been "put through the wringer", and compensation and a restraining order were sought.

Defending, Steve Coupe said up until he was 33 years old, Purchase had never been before the court, having been in a long-term relationship and working as a chef.

However, the relationship had broken down and the defendant's life "descended into chaos", became addicted to cocaine, and he was borrowing money from lots of different people "with no thoughts of consequences".

Since receiving a suspended prison sentence at the start of 2024, Purchase had become clean of drugs and was "an entirely different person", now working as a chef in a pub, and had remained offence-free for 10 months.

Deputy District Judge Mary Dowrick said more information was needed about the defendant before sentencing and adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report.

Purchase will be sentenced at Chester Magistrates Court on November 22. He was bailed on condition he does not contact the victim.