POLICE have reacted after a con woman from WGC was jailed for four-and-a-half years this afternoon (Thursday). Joann Wood, 53, of Knightsfield was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court after admitting

POLICE have reacted after a con woman from WGC was jailed for four-and-a-half years this afternoon (Thursday).

Joann Wood, 53, of Knightsfield was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court after admitting six fraud charges and two counts of possessing Class A drugs.

During the hearing it emerged that Wood had used gay and lesbian chatrooms to hunt for her victims.

After befriending her prey, she conned them out of thousands of pounds by pretending she had cancer.

PC Ben Dransfield of the Case Investigation Team, based at Hatfield Police Station, said: "This callous and ruthless woman will no longer be able to deceive innocent people and I hope that her victims can now move on with their lives.

"As well as using a number of different characters and occupations, she also had a number of aliases and you may have known her as Jayne O'Neil, Jayne Thayer or Kathryn Wheldon.

"She was also known to operate across the UK and allegations we are aware of to date occurred in areas including Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Hertfordshire, Lancashire, Wales, Devon & Cornwall and potentially further afield.

"I am very pleased with today's sentencing and I hope that it sends out a clear message that anyone involved in this level of fraud and deception will be dealt with severely."

He added: "We would very much like to speak to anyone else who has been in contact with this woman and would like to reassure people that there is no need to feel any embarrassment as Wood has been extremely deceiving.