Updated

A conman who tweeted about serving as a senior police officer during last summer's London riots and posed as a British army officer has been sentenced to five years in jail for fraud.

Ellis Ward, 29, posted on Twitter about life as a Metropolitan Police inspector on the streets of London tackling rioters and looters, and duped one British newspaper into printing a column about his duties.

He also pretended to be an army major wounded in Iraq, swindling three women out of more than 40,000 pounds ($64,100).

Prosecutor Michael Williams told Winchester Crown Court that Ward was a "professional and accomplished fraudster" whose deception lasted for years.

Ward admitted to 18 charges of fraud and was sentenced Friday.