A 28-year-old man has been jailed for two years for swindling a 72-year-old widow out of her pension money by pretending he was going to marry her.

Andrew Harding tricked Brenda Nicholls into handing over weekly sums for a wedding that he repeatedly postponed, Bradford Crown Court heard.

He took about £7,000 from Mrs Nicholls over the three years she believed they were in a relationship.

Judge Alistair McCallum yesterday told Harding: “You raised her hopes of romance in her twilight years.”

The judge branded it “a cruel deception” on a vulnerable pensioner with learning difficulties.

“Some might say the amount was not huge, but to her it was the bulk of her income,” Judge McCallum said.

He called it an “exceptionally mean offence” and told Harding that if he was not of very low intelligence, he would have been locked up for much longer.

Harding, of Poplar View, Lightcliffe, Brighouse, was convicted last month by a jury of obtaining up to £15,000 from Mrs Nicholls by deception.

The court was told that Mrs Nicholls, who lives in sheltered housing, had a level of understanding below that of a ten-year-old child.

She had problems handling money and was given an allowance of up to £70 a week by Calderdale Social Services.

Mrs Nicholls’ support worker Richard Walker alerted police in 2006 when she told him she was going to marry Harding and was handing over money to pay for their wedding. Mr Walker said her cupboards were bare and that she was neglecting her appearance.

She told Mr Walker he proposed on her birthday and they planned to marry on June 12, the anniversary of his grandmother’s birthday.

Mrs Nicholls told detectives she loved Harding but now realised she had “been taken for a ride”.

Harding told them he took £30 a week off Mrs Nicholls to top up his mobile phone. He said he never had any intention of marrying her.

Harding’s barrister, Gerald Hendron, told the court the most his client had tricked Mrs Nicholls out of was £7,000. She smoked 40 cigarettes a day, a habit that would cost her £100 a week.

Mr Hendron conceded it was a confidence trick and said it would have been “a sinister and wicked offence” if Harding had been a man of normal intellect.

After the case, Detective Sergeant Bill Hargreaves, said: “It was a despicable crime. The perpetrator was a young man who preyed on a vulnerable and elderly woman, made worse by the fact that she has had to relive her ordeal by giving evidence in court.

“The judge has given an appropriate sentence. Proceedings have commenced with a view to obtaining a Confiscation Order against Andrew Harding which will result in him paying compensation to his victim.”