A SERIAL fraudster who charms single women into funding his millionaire lifestyle is back behind bars – after two years on the run from police.

Lying lothario John Keady has tricked women all over the world out of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The world record-holding sailor was unmasked as a cruel conman by The Herald five years ago as he was jailed for a string of outrageous scams.

But prolific Keady, who grew up in Plymouth and targeted women from the city, vanished after being released on licence in September 2012.

After a nationwide manhunt the 49-year-old was finally caught in Dorset last month and sent straight back to prison, it can be revealed today.

It is believed Keady remarried under the name Dr Jonathan Johns while he was a fugitive

CON ARTIST: Keady, also known as Peter Berry, was on the run from police for two years

One victim told The Herald: "I'm relieved to hear that Keady has been recaptured.

"He's destroyed so many people's lives and conned so many times, he needs to be off the streets so women are protected from him and the financial and emotional hurt he inflicts."

Police believe Keady has spent more than 20 years posing as a wealthy businessman and using dating websites to target vulnerable women, then vanishing with thousands after a whirlwind romance with each.

Keady stole some of their identities to take out huge loans – and told others elaborate lies to get his hands on their cash.

He even siphoned off his elderly widow mother's life savings, leaving her hounded by debt collectors.

Heartbroken victims have come forward from all over the world – from Saltash to Singapore, via the Germany and the United States.

The Herald understands at least once UK police force is investigating fresh claims against the former Devonport Dockyard worker, amid fears there are dozens of further victims yet to be discovered.

Keady, who has used countless aliases, was locked up for five years and three months at Truro Crown Court in May 2010 after admitting an £80,000 trial of fraud, theft and deception.

Detectives described him a "professional liar" as they conceded that the 19 charges brought against him barely scratched the surface of what a judge branded his "campaign of deceit".

FLASH: The serial fraudster grew up in the Plymouth area and has a string of victims here

Keady was released from prison early on licence but conned his next victim, from Swindon, out of £20,000 within weeks of walking free.

He was recalled to serve the rest of his term in November 2013 after being linked to two new fraud offences.

But he disappeared from his West Sussex flat leaving two other women £33,000 out of pocket.

A UK-wide police hunt was launched and in September last year police thought he had been spotted in a London bar – sporting a full beard and speaking with a thick Eastern European accent – in what turned out to be a false lead.

He evaded capture until last month, when he was discovered living in Hampshire, and running a photography business under the name Dr Jonathan Johns.

Sussex Police, who had been leading the search, confirmed he was arrested in Lymington.

Keady, who once sailed with late American adventurer Steve Fossett and was a one-time acquaintance of Westcountry yachting legend Pete Goss, is believed to have been caught out after becoming part of the sailing scene in the seaside town.

One source said: "He had ingratiated himself on the yacht club scene in Lymington, befriended a number of local people and set up what to all intents and purposes appeared to be a perfectly plausible local business."

It is understood Keady is now back behind bars at Lewes Prison.

EXPOSED: How The Herald reported on Keady when his lies were revealed in May 2010

A Sussex Police spokesman said in a statement: "A man wanted on recall to prison has now been arrested.

"John Keady, 49, was wanted for recall to prison after being accused of stealing tens of thousands of pounds.

"Keady, from East Preston, was arrested in the Lymington area of Hampshire on October 11."

Neither Sussex Police or Hampshire Constabulary was able to confirm whether Keady was under investigation following fresh allegations.

Anyone with further information can contact Sussex Police on 101.

The many faces of John Keady (or Pete Berry, or Dr Jonathan Johns, or Taz Keady, or Jay Smith)

DECEPTIVE: Keady posed as a dog-lover, a kayaker, a business tycoon and a yachtsman to lure in his victims

LOVE rat conman John Keady is suspected of scamming up to £2million since he first turned to crime as a teenager.

One detective who helped bring him to justice in 2010 said he had "a PhD in deception" – and spoke of how he left a trail of shattered lives in his wake.

Posing under a litany of names including Pete Berry, Jay Smith, James Smith, Dr James Smith, Dr Jonathan Johns and Taz Keady his lies were extravagant – but convincing.

Keady oozed wealth – he wore designer clothes, kept a BMW outside his home, showed girlfriends round multi-million-pound homes and jetted all over the world.

But his clothes were bought with stolen cash, his car had no engine and he was only in the flash houses for viewings arranged with estate agents.

The bizarre stories he told loved-up girlfriends to rip them off included claiming friends were trapped on a mountain in the Himalayas and needed £11,000 for a rescue.

Women from all over the world contacted investigators in Saltash when his lies caught up with him – each sharing the same story: of being duped into a whirlwind relationship, then left heartbroken and debt-ridden.

But the internet seducer's motives have always baffled police.

He grew up in a happy home and enjoyed genuine talent – one which took him all over the globe as he broke world sailing records with the stars.

POSER: Keady always wore designer clothes and watches to give a facade of wealth

Adopted at six weeks old, he grew up as Peter Berry in a happy Callington home.

His father was a Petty Officer in the Royal Navy and he discovered his flair for watersports when he and his adopter older sister joined Saltash Sailing Club together as children.

He attended Saltash Community College, then Callington Community College before becoming an apprentice fitter at Devonport Dockyard.

He was engaged to a Plymouth woman in his early 20s and went on to work in Wilcove, near Torpoint, and at Plympton-based hose-maker Pirtek before co-owning a garage in Newton Ferrers.

His first marriage was short-lived and ended amid false claims that he had cancer and that his sister had died.

A two-year volunteering job on the Plymouth Lifeboat from 1998 ended in a volunteer losing his car.

Keady then married a second wife in Sussex, fathering a child, before that relationship also broke down.

TALENTED: Keady was a world record-breaking sailor - but even conned high-profile people involved in the sport

By 1999, he was a well-known figure in the sailing community and used his contacts to scam an American sail-making company out of thousands of pounds.

A genuine talent and acquaintance of legendary Pete Goss, he set a new world record in May 2001, skippering the Netergy.com trimaran from Plymouth to La Rochelle, in France, ten hours faster than anyone before him.

A year later, he helped smash his own record by sailing the route with late American adventurer Steve Fossett on the entrepreneur's £8million PlayStation maxi-catamaran. That record still stands.

SAILING STAR: Keady pictured with legendary yachtsman Steve Fossett

Berry moved to Edinburgh in 2001, where he got engaged to a dental practice owner.

But he disappeared – again with cash – after embarking on several relationships with women he lured in on dating websites.

In May 2001 he posed as an investment banker to trick a Dundee love interest into handing him her credit card and flat keys.

When he fled with her cash, possessions and car she began a crusade to find other victims – and unearthed 15 women from as far afield as Singapore, Holland and the Czech Republic.

Two of the women even appeared on GMTV to warn others as Keady fled back to Cornwall.

Now using the name John 'Taz' Keady he landed a job as a photographer at Plymouth Pavilions.

He joined the Tamar Canoe Association and conned a Saltash woman out of £15,000.

Keady continued to target women online and, even after his initial arrest, conned a woman out of £35,000.

When he was released from prison in 2010 he immediately began fleecing women again – with at least three having alerted the police.

JAILED: Keady arrives to be sentenced at Truro Crown Court in 2010. Now he is back behind bars.