A duped mum says she was fleeced of £35,000 by a Romeo who was dubbed the “Turkish warrior”.
Alison Wood, 51, thought former boxer Umit Sucu was the man of her dreams.
But he turned out to be married – and then conned her by claiming his mum needed cash for cancer treatment.
Alison has had £9,000 back from Sucu and a court ordered him to repay another £7,120.
But Alison says the total handed over was £35,000 – though much of it was in cash, which cannot be proven.
She says: “I’m still owed a lot more money. I was blinded by love. Now I see what he really is.
“It’s just a shame it took me as long as it did to figure it out.”
Alison met Sucu, 44, in a pub near her Bristol home in 2018.
He told her he was toasting his divorce. They hit it off but a court was told he quickly became “pushy” about cash in the months that followed.
The pair were on holiday in Tunisia when he said his mum had breast cancer.
He claimed he was struggling to access his bank account in Istanbul and begged Alison for a string of payments to the tune of £13,600.
She paid up and handed over more money after Sucu said he had to pay a fine.
But prosecutors said Sucu spent the money himself.
Project manager Alison says: “Looking back, I think how could I have just believed him? But I loved him and wanted to do everything I could to help his situation.
“My mum died shorty after meeting him. He even helped us arrange the funeral.
“It got to the point where he was such a big part of my life, I never thought to question his intentions.”
Sucu’s lies began to unravel a year into their romance.
Alison bumped into one of his old girlfriends, who revealed he was still married. She then visited his wife’s place of work and she confirmed they were living together in a council house.
Alison adds: “I wanted to believe it wasn’t true but it suddenly all started to make sense. He’d promised to pay me back from his inheritance, which I found out didn’t exist.
“I contacted the police. Our whole relationship was based on deception both financially and emotionally as he’d also been unfaithful throughout our entire relationship.
“I have got horrendous anxiety from what he’s done. It has taken me a couple years at least to feel myself again, but forming personal relationships will now forever be a struggle.”
Sucu, of Thornbury, Glos, was caught in October 2020 and admitted two counts of fraud. He was handed a two-year suspended sentence and 200 hours of community service at Bristol crown court – and ordered to repay the £7,120 to Alison.
But she says she will be well out of pocket, claiming she paid £25,000 for the supposed cancer treatment.
She also alleges Sucu used £10,000 to pay off debts and buy a Chrysler car which was later repossessed.
She insists: “The sentence is extremely light for the pain and misery he’s caused me and no doubt he’ll do the same again to somebody else.
“I hope my story will warn women to stay away from him.”
