AN alleged conman from Worcester has admitted to a jury that he lied to women he met on internet dating websites "to get them into bed" but not to get money.

Matthew Samuels told Worcester Crown Court he "built up a persona" as a rich professional because he thought it would make him more attractive to some of the women he dated. He also told the jury he had made up illnesses and problems with his phone as a way of keeping some of them "at arm's length."

The 50-year-old from Broadway Grove was giving evidence as his defence case started. He has denied eleven charges of fraud and one has been ordered to lie on the file, leaving him facing ten charges. He told the jury he had already entered a guilty plea to a charge of impersonating a barrister when he negotiated over debts for one of his alleged victims.

Questioned by Abigail Nixon, defending, he admitted he had lied to women he had met on websites that he was wealthy and had properties across the world including Barbados and France though he said he did genuinely have a share in properties in Portugal. The former car salesman also admitted he had lied that he had a law degree when in reality he had done three months of a course.

"I wanted to get to know them better and get into a physical relationship," he told the court. "I wanted to build up a persona with the objective of getting some of these women into bed."

He said he had "never told lies in order to obtain money."

Part of the prosectuon evidence has suggested Samuels told several women he was suffering from cancer but he told the court he had never used the word. He said he had been suffering from long term stomach and anal problems and had an enlarged prostate but these conditions had not involved any long stays in hospital.

Several of the women said that once they had given Samuels money he had become difficult to contact and he said he had genuinely had problems with his phone but admitted he had lied on other occasions.

"Sometimes I didn't want to speak to some of these people," he said.

He said one of the women, West Mercia detective constable Nicola Bull, now known as Hampshire, had given him the money because he was having difficulty with tax and he had lost his documents when his briefacase was stolen from his car in Worcester. He said she had taken him round to cashpoints near her home in Kidderminster after he had stayed the night and given him money though he had never asked for any.

He said she was "not really his cup of tea" and when asked why there were messages exchanged in which they said they loved each other, he replied it was just his manner.

""It's just my way of speaking to people," he said.

He also said she had given him permission to stay in her house while she was on holiday and to make use of her Marks and Spencer credit card, which he used to pay for takeaway pizza. Though there was no repayment plan, he said he had told her he would pay the money back as soon as he got on his feet with a new business. He said he had already repaid £1500 in instalments.

The trial continues.