Netflix's 'The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman': 5 crimes committed by Robert Hendy-Freegard

The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman, is a jaw-dropping true-crime docuseries split into three parts, depicting the story of a widely impudent con artist, Robert Hendy-Freegard. It was freshly launched on January 19 (Wednesday) on Netflix. Freegard forged his way into different individuals' lives over a time period from the early 1990s to present day.

The series begins in the present day, at the home of Jake and Sophie Clifton, the children of Sandra Clifton, one of Freegard's victims. The docuseries showcases all the long-term awful crimes committed by him.

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'The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman': 5 crimes committed by Robert Hendy-Freegard

Without any further delay, let's take a closer look at the major crimes committed by Robert Hendy-Freegard, the ultimate conman.

1) Elaborate Deception

As witnessed in the docuseries, Freegard can be considered the master of deception. One of the main crimes that he committed over a long period of time was deceiving all his victims with sharp lies and elaborate manipulations. The first episode of the docuseries recalls how he entered the lives of Sandra, Sofie, Jake Clifton, the two children, going by the name of "Dave", leading to all the unfortunate events that happened in the Clifton family.

It also shows how the expert con artist and criminal Freegard deceived three Harper Adams Agricultural College students - John Atkinson, Sarah Smith, and Maria Hendy, while going by the name of Rob. He manipulated them to go on an escape journey by telling them he was a secret agent of MI5, investigating their friend’s suicide and a sleeper IRA cell as well.

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2) Fraudulence and theft

Freegard has successfully stolen almost a million pounds from his victims. In the Netflix docuseries The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman, the audience can see Jake and Sophie Clifton recalling how he made their mother distant from them within two years.

When their mother disappeared in 2014, Mark Clifton, their father, discovered a large pile of mortgage repayment reminders, credit card bills, parking fines and court summons, all under the name of Sandra Clifton, in their family home.

Freegard was also able to convince his three other victims, John Atkinson, Maria Hendy and Sarah Smith, that he was an undercover agent of MI5, on a secret investigation in their college. After accruing all their trust, he convinced them that their lives were in grave danger along with their families. He then managed to drain the three students of their money in the name of giving them protection.

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3) Manipulation and Kidnapping

As the series The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman suggests, another significant crime committed by the master conman Freegard was manipulating and kidnapping most of his victims. He successfully manipulated three college students, John Atkinson, Maria Hendy and Sarah Smith, to stay on the run from the IRA with him for several years, practically kidnapping them and making them stay away from their families and ruining a long period of their lives.

Sandra Clifton's disappearance also adds to his manipulation and kidnapping crime list. He successfully managed to forge his way into manipulating Sandra to distance herself from her family. Since 2014 Sophie and Jake have not seen their mother Sandra face to face, although Jake managed to see her once in 2020 over a Zoom call.

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4) Physical Violence

Physical violence is also there in the long list of Freegard's crimes over a long period of time, as suggested by the docuseries The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman.

Maria Hendy became the victim of physical torture and violence when she confronted Freegard about his other affairs. He beat her up and even threatened to murder her, even though she became the mother of his two daughters. He also told her not to speak with anyone for 'security reasons', leaving her distressed and restless.

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5) Endangerment

As shown in The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman, over the years, Freebard has put all of his victims' lives in grave danger. He forced his victims to get different jobs, only so that he could drain all the money.

The three students, John, Sarah, and Maria, were manipulated by him to live in a small flat for five months. One time, Sarah had to eat leftover chip batter to resolve her hunger. He always controlled them and eventually started threatening them. He has also made his victims walk miles for fake meetings. He made them do his biddings. He also made his victims cut off contact with their friends and family and live in poor conditions.

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The Puppet Master: Hunting The Ultimate Conman is streaming on Netflix from the 19 of January 2022. Don't forget to watch the jaw-dropping true-crime docuseries.