A conman who methodically cheated a vulnerable neighbour out of more than £64,000 has been ordered to hand back just £1.

Shane Griffiths helped the woman set up online banking and took out loans using her as a guarantor so he could plunder her accounts.

But after hearing the 41-year-old had no assets a judge ordered he hand over the nominal sum or face a day added to his two year eight month sentence he is serving.

However the court heard the authorities are likely to return to try and recoup some of the cash which will be returned to the victim, who is thousands out of pocket.

Hannah Squire, for the Crown, said “It is one of those cases that the police will be investigating in the future: the victim is still out of pocket by some £30,000 odd.”

Judge Robert Pawson, sitting at Swindon Crown Court, found he benefitted from crime by £64,365.89 but had no assets.

Griffiths, who has a history of deception, gained the 39-year-old woman’s trust after chatting with her over the garden fence at the homes in Moredon.

He began to offer her help with her financial affairs and in 2015 encouraged her to remortgage her house so she could carry out refurbishment.

But within days of £34,000 landing in her account he had transferred £25,000 to his own bank and went on a spending spree.

While he was driving round in a BMW, despite living on benefits, she was left fighting off debt collectors and financial institutions who want their money back.

Although he rented his property he spent £6,000 on a high fences around it with CCTV cameras.

As well as his 10-plate BMW he also bought expensive jewellery for his then girlfriend, despite being on benefits, and booked a £19,000 holiday.

When his partner asked how he funded it he told her the cash came from a Microsoft pension, ISAs, share bonds and the like.

And he kept returning to take more from the victim, with whom he had a platonic friendship, leaving her in a perilous state having made her guarantor on loans without her consent.

She first realised something was wrong when a mortgage payment bounced and the full state of his deceit became apparent.

In one account she had nothing and the other there was just £200 left after he had grabbed tens of thousands from her.

Griffiths, formerly of Elborough Road, but now living in Weston super Mare, pleaded guilty to theft of £64,365.89p between May 2015 and April 2016.

He has previous convictions going back to 1992 with many thefts, frauds and deceptions.

Mike Pulsford, defending, said his client was a 'complex character' who had a difficult background growing up in children's homes in Devon and had been diagnosed as suffering from mental health issues.