Ruthless: Drewe left elderly Miss Du Feu relying on the goodwill of friends and family, as well as her pension, at a time when she believed she would be living in relative comfort

Conman transferred deeds from 71-year-old's home to his company and kept proceeds from sale of another

Money went to buying luxury cars and paying off son's debts

He was jailed for one of Britain's biggest art frauds in 1999, which made £1.8m

A fraudster who conned a widow out of £700,000 has been jailed by a judge who described him as ‘the most dishonest and devious person’ he had ever encountered.

John Drewe, 64, preyed on his victim after her husband died and even made her sign over assets from hospital as she recovered from a brain operation.

He took £240,000 from the sale of a property Jeanne Du Feu owned in London before arranging the transfer of the deeds to her £425,000 home in Norfolk

Fraud plot: Drewe made a fortune from selling 200 fake original artworks, including this forgery of Roger Bissiere's 'Abstract Painting'

When she was left penniless he convinced her to borrow cash from a friend who he then targeted for more money.

Drewe had been jailed in 1999 for masterminding one of the biggest art frauds of the century. He made £1.8million by commissioning paintings and passing them off as rediscovered works by major artists.

Sentencing him to eight years in jail for his latest crimes, Judge Alasdair Darroch told him: ‘In my view you are about the most dishonest and devious person I have ever dealt with.’

Miss Du Feu, 71, a retired music therapist, said: ‘It’s a nice, long sentence so hopefully he’ll never do it again to someone else.

‘I hadn’t been able to sleep for two or three years because I woke up having panic attacks.’ Drewe, of Reigate, Surrey, met Miss Du Feu after befriending her husband, David Greenwood. He died four years ago at the age of 68.

Prosecutor William Carter told a jury at Norwich Crown Court she was at a ‘low ebb’ following the bereavement, adding: ‘Drewe took advantage of that vulnerability.’

Preying on the vulnerable: Art fraudster John Drewe was told by a judge he was the 'most devious and dishonest' person he had ever dealt with after he stole cash from Jeanne Du Feu, 71

In the years that followed, he persuaded her to sign papers which she later found were cut and pasted into forged documents.

During a stay in hospital for an operation to treat a neurological disorder, she unwittingly signed over the deeds for her home in Cranwich, near Thetford. ‘I thought I was signing something to do with my operation,’ she said.

Drewe then took the £240,000 from the sale of his victim’s Victorian terraced property in Charlton, South London, telling her he was investing it overseas.

Accomplice: Impoverished and little-known artist John Myatt created the fake paintings for Drewe

Within eight months he had spent it all, buying a new sports car for himself and a car for his daughter, and paying off his son’s debts.

When Miss Du Feu revealed she was struggling for money, he convinced her to borrow some from a friend. He then targeted this woman and obtained a further £4,760 from her.

It was only when Miss Du Feu turned to another friend for advice that she was told to seek legal help and police became involved. An order was obtained preventing her home in Cranwich from being sold.

Mr Carter added: ‘The effect on the victim has been very substantial indeed.

‘It has left Miss Du Feu reliant on the goodwill of others when she should have enjoyed the latter years in relative comfort.’

Drewe was sentenced on Monday after being convicted of two counts of fraud following a lengthy trial. His wife Helen, 61, was cleared of money laundering.

In 1999, Drewe was jailed for six years at Southwark Crown Court for the art fraud. John Myatt, the artist who created forged paintings for him, received 12 months.

Accomplice: Impoverished and little-known artist John Myatt created the fake paintings for Drewe

Drewe created bogus documents made with an old manual typewriter and rubber stamps to ‘authenticate’ the 200 works he had commissioned. Some pieces were aged with dust and mud.

They were attributed to major artists including 20th century abstract British painter Ben Nicholson and Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti. One dealer he tricked called him a ‘mad genius’.

At one stage Michael Douglas was reported to be considering playing Drewe in a film about the elaborate scam.

He was caught after a former lover handed documents connected to the forgeries to police.

The fraudster left school at 16 and claims to have been a Mossad agent, a consultant to the Ministry of Defence, and the inventor of James Bond-style gadgets, including a chemical warfare suit that folded to the size of a golf ball.