A man faked cancer to save his girlfriend from leaving him, even walking as a regular “medication” with a cane and shaking vitamin tablets.
Kevin Bevis, 38, lied about being terminally ill to persuade 50-year-old Karen Gregory to stay with him, even asking her to go to hospital for bogus treatment.
The father of three, who worked for the housing department of Gravesend Borough Council, even told her parents, who were supporting him on a charity run for cancer.
But when Gregory went to police after Bevis became violent, his shocking deceit came to an end, and he was imprisoned for 18 months.
Gregory was put off by his repeated swinging requests and was about to end the relationship when Bevis contracted ‘cancer.’ She felt so bad about his imminent demise, eventually she slept with other people to appease him.
Gregory, from West Malling in Kent, said: “I just took his word for it. He was with me when I lost my aunty to cancer, how can anyone lie about such a thing?
“It’s hard because people on the outside think ‘how can you be so stupid?’ But he went to such lengths.”
Bevis, will, as part of the act, drink 20 pills a day.
Gregory would take him to supposed appointments for chemotherapy but he wouldn’t let her go in to help him.
She also helped Bevis walk around the garden using a cane, as he said that he was too frail to stand idle.
When his mother was out he even appeared to crash in front of neighbours.
He even pretended to collapse in front of the neighbours when his girlfriend was out.
“He would say he didn’t want me seeing him like that. I would pick him up and he would come out with bandages and tell me all about the nurses there,” Gregory said.
“He would have the medication, a box of pills, throughout the day.
“I found out they were just vitamins and supplements. I found a big bag of tablets hidden in the shed when I was clearing out his things.”