British ‘Puppet Master’ conman in French jail wins phones back on appeal

A notorious British conman who hit two gendarmes with his car during an incident in the Creuse department has won the right to have seven confiscated mobile phones returned to him following an appeal court hearing in Limoges, central France.

Robert Hendy-Freegard, 54, also known as David Hendy, fled to Belgium after hitting the gendarmes with his car following a call by them to a property in the small commune of Vidaillat in 2022.

One of the gendarmes broke her nose and was carried for around 100 metres on the bonnet of the car, with her partner also hurt.

Officers were called after the mayor and social workers became concerned about a British woman, Sandra Clifton, living on her own at the house.

Ms Clifton, who did not speak French and made a living breeding dogs, seemed isolated, with only Hendy-Freegard visiting her and bringing her supplies.

She is one of several women Hendy-Freegard is suspected of conning through a thick web of deceit across France and the UK, including claims he was an MI5 agent. 

His story was made famous in a Netflix crime documentary titled The Puppet Master about his previous criminal activities.

Plans to sue Netflix over documentary

Hendy-Freegard fled to Belgium after hitting the gendarmes but was arrested and extradited back to France, where he has been in prison since October 2022. Ms Clifton returned to the UK.

Hendy-Freegard was sentenced to six years in French jail in February 2025. At his appeal where he represented himself, he did not argue against the jail sentence but other parts of the judgement, including the confiscation of seven mobile phones from his property, according to France 3 Nouvelle Aquitaine.

He told the appeal court that he needed the phones because they contained material surrounding a legal case against the US streaming company Netflix.

The documentary shows how he convinced a number of women and a man he was a secret agent for MI5, whose cover was blown and they should cut links with their families, hide out with him and give him money.

For those crimes he was sentenced to life in prison in the UK, in 2005, after being convicted of two charges of kidnapping, 10 thefts and eight frauds.

The sentence was later reduced to nine years after an appeal court overturned the kidnapping verdicts.

Phones returned but other appeals unsuccessful 

“My telephones contain messages, photos and videos which I am counting on to use in a trial against Netflix,” Hendy-Freegard is reported to have told the hearing.

“Because all that was told [in the film] was false and it has had an impact on my life.”

In a judgement delivered after the court case, the judges agreed he could have the phones back.

He also argued against a condition which bans him from living in the Creuse department. The judges questioned why he wanted to do so, when he had plans to return to the UK for a surgical operation after leaving prison.

“I am the owner of a property in Creuse,” Hendy-Freegard said.

“If I cannot enter the department I will be homeless. Why make me homeless? Neither Sandra nor myself want to sell the house.”

Mr Hendy-Freegard also requested the return of the car he was driving when he hit the gendarmes, an Audi A3 with 300,000 km on the clock.

He told the court that it was in Ms Clifton’s name and had been very well maintained.

And he asked for the return of his driving licence, saying he needed it to return to the UK, although the judges asked why he could not take the train, and pointed out the car was the weapon he used to injure the gendarmes with.

The appeal court granted the return of his telephones but rejected his plea to be able to live in Creuse, or have his driving licence and car returned.

In France it is usual for prisoners to be able to apply for release on parole after serving half their sentence, so it is possible that Mr Freegard-Hendy will have been eligible for release after the appeal hearing.