Man nicknamed 'Turkish Warrior' conned girlfriend out of almost £15k to fund luxury lifestyle

A woman who was fleeced by her conman ex who goes by the name of the 'Turkish Warrior' says she was 'blinded by love. Former boxer, Umit Sucu, used his mother's cancer diagnosis to con Alison Wood out of more than £14,000.

Bristol Crown Court heard how Mr Sucu told Alison that he needed money to send to his poorly mother abroad for her treatment. However, he used the cash to fund his lifestyle at home instead.

Sucu, 44, was handed a suspended sentence earlier this month and was told to pay back a total of £14,600. But Alison, 51, claims she is actually owed at least double that amount.

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She said of the ordeal: "I was blinded by what I thought was love, but now I see what he really is. It's just a shame it took me as long as it did to figure it out."

A court heard the pair started a relationship after meeting in a pub - where he was supposedly celebrating his divorce - in October 2018. But Sucu soon became "pushy" about Alison's finances in the months that followed, it was said.

And then, on a holiday in Tunisia, the former boxer said his mum, who lives at his family home in Turkey, had breast cancer. He claimed he was struggling to access his bank account in Istanbul and proceeded to ask Alison for a string of payments to the tune of £13,600.

She paid up, and also handed over a further £1,000 after Sucu said he needed to pay a fine. But prosecutors said Sucu didn't send the money abroad - and actually used it to pay for "every day items such as loans and tickets."

Project manager Alison, from Speedwell, Bristol, said: "Looking back on it I think how could I have just believed him, but I loved him and wanted to do