A WOMAN who had thousands of pounds stolen by her ex-fiance has said she can “never love again”.

Hazel Wilkins, 71, from Rusper, near Crawley, appeared on ITV’s “This Morning” programme and told presenters Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield how she has been left feeling “empty” after she was tricked by a man dubbed the “Casanova Conman”.

Speaking on the show, Hazel said: “I won’t trust anybody. I’ve got to the point of hiding my purse. I trust my daughters obviously but I don’t trust anybody else.”

Hazel met John Eric Wells, 61, from Doncaster, online in 2014 and after they met for dinner at a hotel in Crawley the pair began a romantic relationship.

“We got on really well. We had loads of laughs,” she said. Wells told Hazel he had a hotel chain and was away a lot for work, and in 2015 he proposed to her in front of her friends and family.

But alarm bells started ringing for Hazel when Wells cancelled their wedding date four times and started asking for money.

She said: “You don’t want to believe it’s true because you’re in love with this person.”

Wells borrowed money from Hazel and other members of her family before fleeing in 2017. Hazel alleges he stole about £63,000 of her life savings, and said she is still paying off debts after he took out loans in her name.

Hazel also lost her home after Wells had committed to buying houses for her two daughters, but never did.

In desperation Hazel sold her house to buy somewhere for her daughter and newborn grandchild to live, and now Hazel lives with them too.

Wells had also promised Hazel a restaurant business in Guernsey, so she left her job, but again it never materialised.

Two other grandmothers have claimed Wells conned them, bringing the total value of three alleged romance fraud cases made against him to more than £400,000.

Wells has a previous fraud conviction after he faked an £8.9 million lottery win two decades ago, and he was jailed for three years. The crime was later dramatised by ITV in a 2004 television film starring Martin Kemp and Michelle Collins

Now an international manhunt has been launched for Wells.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Police said: “He is wanted in connection with three high value romance frauds, during which three victims lost money totalling more than £400,000.

“The offences are reported to have taken place from September 2014 onwards. The victims lived in locations across the UK including Doncaster, Sussex and London.”