A serial conman who pretended his family died in the Grenfell Tower fire to obtain about £12,500 meant for the victims will be sentenced on Thursday (December 21).

Anh Nhu Nguyen claimed his wife and son were killed in the June 14 disaster and was photographed beside the Prince of Wales when he met survivors.

As part of his deceit, Nguyen spun a cruel tale to family liaison officers, describing in detail how he lost sight of his family in the smoke-clogged stairwell, police said.

But while a major recovery operation was under way on June 15, the fraudster was actually nine miles away at a housing charity, according to prosecutors.

He posed as a victim of the blaze for almost two weeks and was given about £12,500 from charities and Kensington and Chelsea Council .

The 52-year-old, of Beckenham, south-east London, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to two counts of fraud by false representation and one count of making an untrue statement for the purpose of obtaining a passport.

Anh Nhu Nguyen, second from the left, shook hands with Prince Charles when the royal visited Westway Sports Centre where survivors were temporarily housed

Nguyen, who was born in Vietnam and has been in the UK since the 1980s, is a British citizen and has 17 aliases.

He has 28 previous convictions for 56 offences spanning more than 30 years, including theft, dishonest offences, arson and grievous bodily harm.

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