A love rat who convinced five different lovers that he was a secret agent in a ‘James Bond fantasy’ has been jailed for five and a half years.
John Hare told one girlfriend that he needed a gun with him at all times - even when they went for a meal at a Toby Carvery.
In reality, he was no James Bond but a middle-aged married farmer who claimed to be a Government agent to conceal decades of adultery.
Hare convinced his latest lover that he had separated from his wife and was working for the Secret Service.
But his lies unravelled after he assaulted her on his farm, and she reported him to police who discovered his ‘secret service’ pistol.
He had claimed that his ‘unit’ would message her if he was in trouble while away ‘on operations’.
It was in fact his own personal number - and he used the same ruse with another mistress of 23 years.
Hare was convicted of assaulting his latest lover, criminal damage and possession of the gun.
Speaking after the case, the lover who he assaulted told how he had duped his family, parents, employees and series of lovers.
Another of his girlfriends had been seeing him for 20 years - and thought he had moved in with her permanently.
There were also photos of a group sex session with another female lover and two other men on his phone.
“I had to see him get five and a half years with my own eyes,” the ex-lover told the Mirror. “I have cameras fitted to the house.
“I had to sleep on the settee to watch them. I was so frightened, he has changed me as a person.
“He has robbed me of seven years of my life.”
She added: “He said that he was a secret agent, and of course you think it is extreme.
“I got a message from his unit saying that they would keep in touch with me when he was away ‘on ops’.
“I met his parents, his children, they all believed the same thing.”
She discovered that Hare had been seeing another woman for 23 years.
She added: “She believed he had been living with her full time for 10 years. He told her he was away with the secret service when he was with me.
“John gave us both a number for his unit. She texted to report that he was in trouble when I was with him.
“I heard his phone beep and knew that he was lying.”
She also discovered the sequence of sexually explicit images of another woman, with two other men, on his phone.
She later met another lover who Hare had been seeing for five years.
That woman had left her husband, and moved into a private, rented property, to start a new life with Hare. The ex-lover said: “There were five lovers that I know of, including me and his wife.”
Hare punched her three times and sent her to the floor as his double life unravelled.
He then put his palm to her face and caused her nose to bleed before he caused damage to her car wing mirror as she tried to drive away.
She reported him to the police. Hare, of Carr House Farm, Murton, Seaham, Co Durham, denied assault and criminal damage but was convicted after a trial.
He admitted possession of a prohibited firearm, which he said he had bought over the internet in 2005 or 2006.
Judge Edward Bindloss sentenced him to five and a half years behind bars with an order to pay £100 compensation.
Thomas Welshman, defending, said Hare never threatened anyone with the gun and the deterioration of his marriage had led to a “build up of pressure.”
Hare had two associated businesses involving reusable energy.
Mr Welshman said: “He is a flawed man, a troubled man but not a dangerous man.”
