A man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for defrauding people in a jewellery scam valued at more than £2m, a court has heard.

Through two companies, James Charles, from Roman Crescent in Southwick, West Sussex, took jewellery and promised to repair or resell it, only for victims to receive nothing or a fraction of what was promised, Sussex Police said.

The 49-year-old, also known as Jamie Goatley, had changed his plea to guilty for four counts of carrying on business of a company with intent to defraud creditors, or for other fraudulent purposes.

At the sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday, Judge Martin Griffith said Charles was a "practised and inveterate fraudster".

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Charles continued to defraud people even after being arrested.

"You took goods and sold them… continued to fob off the owners with lies, stories about difficulties with bank accounts, and sadly because they still trusted you for a while people listened and went along with it," the judge added.

The defendant pleaded guilty to fraudulent trading in respect of four businesses which amounted in losses of £1,257,756 between August 2022 and April 2025.

He was also sentenced over other uncharged offences, some committed as recently as this year, after Charles confirmed he wanted the judge to take them into account.

These were two further counts of fraudulent trading and one count of fraud by false representation which amounted to losses of £795,493.24.

Of the 31 victims, some trusted Charles with precious gifts and heirlooms.

Amanda Liu said she gave two luxury Patek Philippe watches to Charles and was still without one of them.

"Losing that amount means that we need to start from scratch again, so it is hard work," she said.

"Especially for people who are hard-working, losing a big sum of your investment, or all in one go, it's quite heartbreaking."

Alexandru Moisii said the scam had had a "serious emotional impact" on him and he had to get therapy to cope with depression.

He added: "This crime has completely changed my life and I am still dealing with the consequences every single day."

Martin Jukes said being a victim made him feel "worthless".

"[It] made me not trust anyone any more and it saddens me with deep regret that it pains my heart," he added.

Victim Kevin Amphlett, 77, said: "I wanted to enjoy the rest of my life. What James did has taken this away from me and has ruined the rest of my life."

Adam Charzynski said this had been a "a deeply violating experience".

"The betrayal and lack of resolution have left me in a near-constant state of tension," he added.

"I often experience sleeplessness, irritability and difficulty concentrating."

Prosecutor Anthony Hucklesby said it was a "sophisticated and highly planned set of offences" and Charles even changed his name to "obscure his connection with his past".

"In many cases victims were reluctantly parting with items of sentimental value and heirlooms, and in some cases were particularly vulnerable due to personal circumstances," he added.

The prosecutor said there was a "striking similarity" between the recent crimes and an incident in 1999 in which Charles visited the home of a vulnerable elderly woman and took six antique dining chairs and a table.

He was also sentenced to six years in prison in 2013 for theft and fraud for running a similar jewellery scam, the court heard.

Paul Lazarus, defending, said his client had expressed remorse, did not maintain not guilty pleas "to the bitter end" and took into account other offending.

Det Con Graham Gray said there had been "a lot of people whose lives have been ruined".

He added: "We've had people who've had their inheritances taken, we've had people that were selling jewellery for private medical operations that they then couldn't have, we've had people trying to restart lives after divorces, and that's been completely upended.

"And again that's because of his sheer lack of empathy [and] sheer greed."

Charles was told he would serve up to half of his sentence before being released on licence.

He was also disqualified from acting as a company director for 10 years from the date of his release.

Charles had pleaded not guilty to two charges of converting criminal property and they were ordered by the judge to lie on file.

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