Fraudster tricked injured war heroes including Simon Weston to support his veterans' trust but spent cash on speedboats and women Christopher O'Neill, 51, conned politicians, veterans and police Blew grant from Conwy Council on gambling and romancing women Was given £125,000 to build a hotel for former service personnel Judge brands his deception 'wicked' and calls him a 'congenital liar' Jailed for three years at Caernarfon Crown Court A fraudster who fleeced injured war heroes was jailed for three years yesterday after blowing the cash on speedboats, romancing women and luxury hotels. Christopher O'Neill conned politicians into giving him £125,000 to create a hotel for wounded ex-soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A court heard he set up the Forces For Good trust to help ex-armed forces personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to return to civilian life. O'Neill, (right) pictured here with Simon Weston (left), spent the money intended for former service personnel on speedboats and gambling But the 51-year-old splashed out on speedboats, gambling debts, high living and trying to romance three women at the same time. Conman O'Neill convinced the Welsh Assembly government he was legitimate through lying about his own very brief army career and giving 'expert' evidence to parliamentary and Welsh government committees about post-traumatic stress disorder and the impact on soldiers leaving the forces. He won over politicians, probation workers, senior police officers and even convinced war veterans like former Welsh Guardsman Simon Weston that he wanted to help struggling servicemen and women. It operated a hotel in Llandudno, North Wales, a nine-house supported housing project on Anglesey and a caravan site. But instead of ploughing the £125,000 government grant into helping ex-servicemen he stole from his own organisation to lead a luxury lifestyle until the money ran out. Christopher O'Neill conned £125,000 out of the Welsh government to set up a scheme to help injured soldiers The court heard O'Neill transferred £74,800 from the Forces For Good bank account into his own. He lost £20,00 in an account with Ladbrokes bookmakers and ripped off a dying woman by persuading her to invest £30,000 in his hotel renovation and continued to cash cheques from her account after she died. The truth caught up with him after Forces For Good co-director Mandy Bostwick became suspicious about his lifestyle and asked him to show her the accounts. When he refused, Ms Bostwick and fellow co-director Kevin Grey suspended him and discovered there was only £500 left instead of £90,000. O'Neill, of Colwyn Bay, North Wales, was due to stand trial in October but failed to turn up at court and went on the run. He later surrendered and pleaded guilty at Caernarfon Crown Court to two fraud charges. He was jailed for three years yesterday. Falklands veteran Simon Weston today hit out at jailed military conman Christopher O'Neill after he was tricked by his fraud. Mr Weston was tricked by O'Neill while speaking alongside each other at meetings of the Welsh Government trying to help military veterans. The former Welsh Guardsman said: 'He abused the trust of politicians and the general public. But worst of all he abused the trust of his peers - people who had possibly served alongside. He should have honoured the trust they put in him. The 'congenital liar' ripped off a dying woman by persuading her to invest £30,000 in his hotel renovation What he did was reprehensible. He has ruined the rest of his life. 'When you go to prison that isn't the end - there are an awful lot of ex-servicemen inside prison. He will have to be watched for his own safety. But when he comes out, he will want to employ someone like that. He may well have enjoyed more than £100,000 but no-one will trust him ever again. O'Neill 'could talk the birds down off the trees' says someone who was duped by him In reality, society will punish him more than the courts. 'I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. We have millions of veterans in this country and families with serving members. Prosecutor Karl Scholz said: 'Although he may have been concerned by the difficulties of ex-servicemen, he used moneys for charitable purposes to fund his own lifestyle. He is a congenital liar incapable of managing his financial affairs. Judge Nicholas Parry branded his crime 'wicked' and said he was stunned by a lack of basic checks into his background: 'This was nothing other than a sophisticated high value scam. It was a wicked deception on the public purse. Any right-minded person would be sickened. Your wicked lies involve deceiving vulnerable former soldiers who had truly served their country and meant something, who had seen horrors and had their lives blighted. The best assessment of you was from 30 years in an army report which said you were a congenital liar. 'It is astounding that the Welsh Assembly Government didn't make the basic checks into the company and you were given the money without proper checks.' Plaid Cymru MP Elfyn Llwyd, a prominent campaigner for veterans, was taken in by O'Neill. After his conviction, Mr Llwyd said: 'He could talk the birds down off the trees to be honest. He was perfectly plausible. He'd been in several meetings with some very high powered ex-service people and the whole group of people we deal with in committees in London. 'I don't think anybody suspected anything.' O'Neill had a previous conviction for dishonesty after stealing jewellery from his employers in 1985. Mr Llwyd is now calling for an inquiry into how his background wasn't checked in more detail before being handed such large sums of public money. After the sentencing, Mr Weston called for tighter controls on keeping checks grants to veterans' organisations. Mr Weston survived the Argentine attack on the Sir Galahad troop ship during the Falklands war which killed 48 people in the deadliest single attack on British servicemen of the war. The hotel in LLandudno which was previously owned by the Forces For Good trust and used as a hostel for former members of the armed services Mr Weston, then 20 years old, survived the bombing but suffered horrific burns to 46 per cent of his body. Three decades and more than 80 operations later he has conquered his demons but admits after the Falklands he tried to commit suicide and found refuge in alcohol. Mr Weston was photographed alongside O'Neill at a veterans' event in Cardiff where the pair gave talks on the struggles soldiers faced in returning to civilian life. He said: 'What we mustn't do is attack the Welsh Government in this case. They were naive in their rush to help and in their desire to do the right thing. They got it wrong. But we have to have trust in some people - without that we lose society. In a statement the Welsh Government said that Conwy council was responsible for administering the grant to Forces for Good and the council had now repaid the £125,000 in full. It also said its officials had now worked with the council to review and strengthen its governance procedures. Conwy council said it has carried out an internal investigation in to what went wrong with Forces for Good.