Lavery appeared before the Inner London Crown Court in Southwark. He was originally sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay £5,500 in compensation, but last week he received a further 6 months behind bars for absconding.
Lavery, aged 44 and formerly of High Street in Berkhamsted at the time of the offence, worked as a psychic medium and had been contacted by the victim, who wanted to contact a girlfriend after their relationship had broken down. Lavery, also known as Simon Lavery, told the victim that he could help him rebuild the relationship.
Lavery and Hamilton then contacted the victim pretending to be the ex girlfriend via a mobile phone the victim had bought for them. They persuaded him to part with thousands of pounds of money under the pretext of a wedding between the man and his ex girlfriend. This included an engagement ring.
The victim, a man from Watford, eventually realised that he had been defrauded when he saw the mobile phone he had bought at Lavery's house. He then contacted the ex girlfriend on her usual mobile number, but she knew nothing of the wedding. The offence took place between October 1 2007 and 2 June 2008.
Lavery and Hamilton pleaded not guilty in September 2008, but were found guilty of fraud by false representation in June 2009. They were sentenced the same day.
Detective Constable Phil Freebrey, the officer in the case, said: "This is excellent news that we have now arrested Lavery and he is finally doing time for his callous, greedy crime. It sends a strong message to criminals that they can run and try to evade justice, but we will eventually catch up with them.
DC Freebrey added: "Lvery was eventually traced to Benidorm in the Costa Blanca, after some helpful information from members of the public following our media appeals at the time."
However, his accomplice John Hamilton, aged 54 from St Leonards in Sussex, is still wanted on warrant and thought to be in Spain also.
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