Keith Cameron, 61, conned his terminally ill friend out of almost £500,000. He used this money to pay for his home which has been valued at over £1 million and to send his children to private school. Cameron who was jailed in 2015 was served with a proceeds of crime order for £211,000. The money had to be returned to his victim’s family.

The victim of the crime, Jonathan Speirs, was a world-famous lighting design architect. He died of stomach cancer in 2012. The order was imposed over six years ago. However, Cameron still has £22,000 outstanding to pay.

Cameron recently appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for a means hearing and he choose to self-represent. However, the prosecution told the court that Cameron had £20,948 available to him. It was explained that the money came from his late father’s estate. Cameron told the court that was not able to accept the money, as his position was that he was in fact due around £86,000 from his father’s passing. 

Sheriff Nigel Morrison QC told Cameron: ‘The has gone on long enough’. He told Cameron that if he failed to pay by the 9th of September, he would be given the alternative of 568 days. 

Cameron initially received a custodial sentence of 5 years for the fraud which he committed between the 1st of October 2009 and the 14th of September 2012. 

His crime left the Speirs family in financial difficulty and Jonathan’s widow was forced to sell their family home.