A FALMOUTH woman conned out of her own home has described the situation as a "horrendous nightmare".
Patricia Young was duped by a brother and sister when she replied to a debt service advert in a national newspaper in 2008.
They convinced her to complete forms to remortgage her four-bedroom bungalow off Bickland Water Road but used the details provided to fraudulently sell her house.
She is now being forced to 'squat' in her own home as she goes through the civil courts to try and regain her house.
David Ross Cairns, 56, of Tyne and Wear and Helen Myra Cairns, 50, of Ayrshire recently appeared in Taunton Crown Court to face fraud charges over hundreds of thousands of pounds related to three properties in Falmouth, Warwickshire and Lancashire.
Cairns pleaded guilty to five charges and was handed a four-year jail sentence and his sister admitted one charge and was given a 15-month suspended sentence.
Mrs Young, 62, said "It is a victory, but I would rather have my house. I felt as if it was my fault, but my vindication came with that sentence.
"It wasn't the length of his sentence, but the fact he admitted it and showed I wasn't the fool I was made out to be."
Mrs Young was persuaded to remortgage her home by the pair after she contacted them for advice.
But she was horrified when she discovered months later that they had sold her home from under her.
"I was shocked," she said. "I checked the company out beforehand and saw nothing untoward. Everything seemed legitimate.
"I was lulled into a false sense of security as he seemed so plausible. It was a bombshell to find out what he had done."
Once she realised what had happened, she spent hours researching and getting evidence together and then contacted the police.
Lead investigator DC Dave Palmer at Falmouth station, said: "It was one of the most difficult investigations I have done.
"This sort of case is rare and I am satisfied justice has been done, but those victims are still up to their necks in debt. They were older people in debt, who wanted to release equity and were conned out of their homes. It is dreadful."
Mrs Young is now chasing the matter through the civil courts in a bid to get her home back, with the help of a local solicitor who is doing the work free of charge.
She said the situation had caused a lot of distress to her and her family.
"I have been in limbo for five years and it is not over yet. It has been an horrendous nightmare.
"I thought it was going to destroy me totally, but I don't feel sorry for myself. I am a fighter and I am not going to give up."