Pensioners who were scammed out of valuables by a conman posing as a police officer will now receive nearl £30,000 in compensation.

Hamza Ali, 25, fleeced elderly people around Kent for thousands of pounds, taking £20,000 worth of jewellery from one Sittingbourne victim.

In 2018 Ali was jailed for five years in 2018 for his part in the con, which targeted 26 people in the town.

His actions came to light in October 2017 when he scammed a woman in her 70s by posing as a Met Police officer over the phone.

Ali of Gladstone Park Gardens, London, told her to leave £20,000 worth of jewellery in a plastic bag outside her front door for safekeeping. Instead it was collected by a courier and never seen again.

Detectives arrested Ali at Luton Airport where he'd just landed after taking a friend on an all expenses paid trip to Italy.

Officers seized a Rolex watch he was wearing and a diamond ring he had given to the friend as a gift.

A search of his found bundles of cash totally £26,470.

A court order to confiscate the cash and jewellery was agreed this week, the jewellery will be auctioned off and is expected to sell for more than £5,000.

Most of the money will now be shared amongst Ali's victims, who will each receive compensation from a pot totalling £29,656.

Detective Inspector Annie Clayton said: "Hamza Ali committed a string of despicable crimes to deprive elderly and vulnerable residents of their life’s savings, spinning them a web of lies in order to betray their trust and confidence.

"I am very pleased that they will now receive compensation from the very man who caused them such anguish.

Thanks to legislation introduced under the Proceeds of Crime Act we are able to deprive criminals like Ali of their illegally-earned assets, whether they be houses, cars or, as in this case, a Rolex watch and diamond ring."

Read more: All the latest news from Sittingbourne.