A conman caught fleeing to Italy after committing a £78,000 fraud on a Bradford charity and its vulnerable clients has been jailed for three years.

Simon Warner-Hodgkin, described in court as a fantasist, lied about his qualifications when he targeted Christians Against Poverty and plundered the accounts of people facing bankruptcy.

Warner-Hodgkin, also known as Simon Hemmingfield, was already a convicted fraudster when he joined the charity in February, 2008.

In 1997, he used false credit card details to obtain chatline services on the internet and, in 2008, he advertised electrical goods and failed to deliver them after he was paid the money.

Yesterday he was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court for defrauding the charity of £78,669 and falsely claiming he had a BA Honours degree in Bible Studies and Church Leadership and a Masters degree in Theology and that he was qualified to give mortgage advice. Prosecutor Bashir Ahmed said Warner-Hodgkin became a team leader at the charity, giving specialist advice in the insolvency department.

He had returned £48,000 of the money taken out of 45 bank accounts but £30,000 was missing.

Warner-Hodgkin, who had moved to Brighton, was arrested at the Channel Tunnel site in Kent heading for Italy in his car. Shocked staff at the charity were forced to invest time, effort and resources into sorting out the fraud.

Mr Ahmed said it was a huge betrayal of trust. The Official Receiver had at first given “negative feedback” but was now satisfied that all was well at the organisation.

Judge Colin Burn ordered that £2,504 seized in assets from Warner-Hodgkin be paid in compensation to the charity.

Warner-Hodgkin’s solicitor advocate, Ashok Khullar, said he had a propensity to tell lies and had lived in something of a fantasy world. He had severe health difficulties and was bitterly ashamed of what he had done. “He is relieved that all his lies have now been exposed,” Mr Khullar said.

After the case, a spokesman at Christians Against Poverty said: “We are satisfied that justice has been done today and we can finally see an end to this matter.

“We’d like to thank the investigating team who did a fantastic job with a complicated case.”