Robert Hendy-Freegard (born Robert Freegard on 1st March 1971) was a British conman who went by the name David Hendy and pretended to be a MI5 agent while working as a barman and car salesman. He is the subject of new Netflix true crime docuseries The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman.
Who is Sandra Clifton?
Sandra Clifton is the woman at the centre of new Netflix true crime series The Puppet Master. She married her childhood sweetheart Mark Clifton and they had two children Sophie and Jake. In November 2011 she met David Hendy, who claimed to work in the media selling ad spaces. However, she hasn’t seen her children for over seven years. After looking into her partner, Sandra’s family discovered that David was actually Robert Freegard - a convicted serial conman who tricked his victims into given him money.
Where is Sandra Clifton now?
In 2015, Sandra’s family tracked her down and discovered she was still with Robert Freegard. However, when her ex-husband Mark told her about Freegard’s criminal past, she chose to stay with him and said she was already aware of it.
Two years later a top dog breeder Dianne Spavin sold three Beagles to the couple, but ceased to have any more dealings with them once she realised who Freegard was.
In 2020 Jake Clifton last saw his mother on Zoom for the first time since she disappeared in 2014 due to a court case where he attempted to stop Sandra from claiming an inherited house for fears the funds would all go to Freegard-Hendy. She was able to claim possession of the house in the end.
There’s no “presenter” hogging the screen, just the victims and other participants describing their experiences. There’s some re-enactment but nothing too obvious or dramatic.
I understand that there’s an earlier, more detailed, BBC documentary available - I couldn’t find it but I found this:
Power-mad conman Robert Hendy-Freegard forced the many victims who fell prey to his devious charm to endure squalid lives of degradation and suffering, according to the judge due to sentence him for two counts of kidnap, 10 of theft and eight of deception.
BBC News examines how some were sucked into the former barman’s heinous world of make-believe espionage and derring-do.
Some of the events described are, indeed, unbelievable but they did happen - more than a dozen victims and their families were affected - millions of pounds were obtained by Hendy-Freegard.