A LONELY hearts fraudster from Worcester, who conned 'vulnerable' women out of nearly £200,000 has had an appeal against his eight-year jail sentence thrown out.

Top judges at London's Appeal Court said that Matthew Samuels, 51, "richly deserved" the time behind bars.

Samuels, of Broadway Grove, Dines Green, was jailed at the Worcester Crown Court after admitting seven counts of fraud on October 9 last year.

He met women on internet dating sites and told them a pack of lies about his financial standing, the Appeal Court heard.

He frequently used false identities to gain his victims' trust and got away with close to £200,000, Mrs Justice Simler said.

His crimes had a 'devastating impact' on some of his victims, some of whom lost their life savings to the charming fraudster.

It was 'planned, persistent and deliberate targeting of vulnerable women', said the judge who jailed Samuels.

During his original trial the court was told that Samuels, a car dealer who drove a Bentley, told many of his victims that he was a multi-millionaire who was fluent in several languages.

He also falsely claimed to have cancer to inspire sympathy and invented an overseas property portfolio, while asking for "loans" to settle tax bills.

In a victim impact statement read to the court after the fraudster's conviction, one woman befriended by Samuels said: "This man has destroyed me. I cannot see myself having a relationship ever again. I honestly do feel like I was better off dying."

The offences, committed between April 2011 and July 2015, were described by Judge Michael Cullum as "devious" deceptions with no thought for the emotional damage caused.

At the appeal hearing on Tuesday, Samuels' lawyers argued his punishment was far too tough and ought to be cut.

But Mrs Justice Simler said: "The total sentence of eight years, whilst severe, was richly deserved and was not arguably disproportionate or manifestly excessive."

The judge, who was sitting with Lord Justice Davis and Judge Michael Stokes QC, dismissed the appeal.