LONDON (AP) - 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.

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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