€2m fraud Briton jailed for 2 years

A BRITON who swindled €2million from fellow expats in the Dordogne has been jailed for two years by a court in Bordeaux.

Warren Templeton, 54, walked free from the court, however, as he was not committed directly to jail. He must hand himself in to begin his sentence.

The two-year sentence has been attacked by one of the seven victims at the trial, Ann Hutchinson, who said: "I'm very disappointed. He's condemned the victims to so many years of suffering."

Templeton was in jail for five months awaiting trial for the frauds, which were committed between 2001 and 2004, and must present himself to begin the rest of his sentence.

He has already been convicted of two similar offences in Britain. Prosecutor Anne-Marie Laprie told the court Templeton had changed his name from Graham Briggs in 1997 and moved to France to start his frauds again.

Ms Laprie had asked for a three-year sentence.

Templeton had targeted retired Britons in the Dordogne, in the area round Sarlat in the east, offering them returns of 15% on their life savings. One couple is said to have lost €700,000.