De Rothschild claim conman jailed for 18 years

An "accomplished conman" who claimed to be the illegitimate son of financier Edmund De Rothschild was today sentenced to 18 years in prison for defrauding a single mother and raping a schoolgirl.

Unemployed Alexander Marc De Rothschild-Hatton claimed to be an Oxford-educated international financier as part of his ruse to bleed more than £300,000 from divorcee Christine Handy.

The 49-year-old, of Bowling Green Road, Cirencester, was found guilty yesterday at Bristol Crown Court of seven counts of obtaining money transfers by deception.

He was also convicted last May of four counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault.

Judge Julian Lambert sentenced De Rothschild-Hatton at Bristol Crown Court to 15 years for the sexual offences and three years for the fraud offences. Both terms will be served consecutively.