Former nurse Adele Rennie back in court after 'catfish' scam

Adele Rennie, 33, was jailed in 2017 and again in 2019 for impersonating men in order to trick women.

Rennie pleaded guilty to four more charges of a similar nature at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court on July 30.

She was jailed for 22 months in 2017 and put on the sex offenders register for 10 years after admitting 18 offences against 10 women, dating back to 2012.

And she was sent to prison for a second time two years later, just a few months after being released from jail, after she posed as a wealthy lawyer on dating site Tinder, used a voice-change app during phone conversations, and duped three further victims in similar offences.

Her latest offences included breaching the sex offender requirements by failing to inform police of various bank cards she had between January 1, 2020 and November 14 last year and aliases she used between August 21 and October 22, 2023.

She also pleaded guilty to a further charge of engaging in a course of conduct which caused someone fear or alarms between August 21 and October 22, 2023, and one count of causing a person to look at a sexual image.

Fiscal depute Jade Podlesny said police were told on October 28 last year that Rennie was reoffending.

It was reported that a witness had messaged a Facebook group in relation to a fake Tinder profile, asking if anyone in the group had a phone number or received voice notes from this false profile.

Ms Podlesny added: "The witness was then given a phone number for the named fake profile, and it was contacted.

"It was evident that this was an altered voice, and it was then reported to the Facebook group that this was a 'catfish profile'."

The court heard this witness received a call via Instagram from Rennie the next day, when the 33-year-old, described in court papers as a prisoner at HMP Stirling, said she was aware of the fake profile and that what she was being accused of was false.

The witness then received messages from the fake profile, stating ‘he’ was friends with Rennie and that the accusations made were making Rennie feel suicidal.

The woman who had alerted police – referred to as the complainer – then supplied officers with statements on November 6.

Ms Podlesny explained: "On August 17, 2023, the complainer matched on Tinder with a male (Rennie's false profile) purporting to be a male pharmacist and within a few days they had exchanged mobile numbers."

On August 21 the complainer got a message from Rennie at the fake profile stating they were getting something delivered to their workplace.

The complainer said they weren’t at work and provided their home address, to which flowers were delivered.

The pair then arranged to go on a date, which was later cancelled at the last minute, by which time the complainer had begun to suspect the profile was a ‘catfish’ attempt.

Later on August 21 the complainer went shopping and sent a picture of a jacket they’d seen to the profile being operated by Rennie.

Ms Podlesny added: "A few weeks later, the jacket was hand-delivered to the complainer’s work. 

"The complainer was not working at the time but later received messages describing her place of work, causing the belief that the jacket was hand-delivered by Rennie.

"The complainer stated that Rennie kept going on about the jacket, so offered to send money for it, and the accused provided bank details with the fake profile name.

"However, the bank details and name did not match, so the complainer was unable to send the money."

With their suspicions rising the complainer searched online for the name on the profile and saw ‘he’ had a LinkedIn profile describing his profession as a pharmacist.

On August 27 the complainer got a voice note from another female, calling herself ‘Cheryl’ and claiming to be a of the man in the fake profile, encouraging the complainer “not to give up on him”.

But it was later disclosed that ‘Cheryl’ was another character being falsely portrayed by Rennie.

The complainer also received more calls from the fake profile and believed their voice sounded like it had been altered.

Further messages from the fake profile included one explicit image, not sought by the complainer. Rennie, under the false profile, stated they did not mean anything by it and were unable to delete it.

Then, on September 12, the complainer received a message from the fake profile with a photo taken outside her workplace.

A month later the complainer received a screenshot from Google Maps showing someone outside their home address, following a photo of their home street taken through a car window.

Ms Podlesny added: "The complainer was alarmed by this and stated that it felt as though they were being followed."

The complainer eventually contacted police after a further incident on October 13 when Rennie, still using the fake profile, sent them a ticket for a gig in London.

When the complainer said they didn’t want to go, they wee asked to send the ticket on to someone else via Ticketmaster to a specific email address.

They did so, and the complainer was then shown pictures from the concert which included a photograph of Rennie, prompting them to contact police.

Officers identified Rennie from voice recordings sent to the complainer.

Confirming that the name of Cheryl, the name used on the fake profile, and the bank account were not registered with police, officers traced Rennie at her home address on November 14 and arrested her on suspicion of breaching the requirements of the sex offenders register.

A search of Rennie’s home recovered bank cards, mobile phones and an image matching the fake male profile.

Rennie made her first appearance at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court in connection with the incidents on November 15, and has been remanded in custody since then.

Neil McPherson, defending, asked Sheriff Nicola Patrick to call for full background reports.

He added that this would help highlight to the court the effect this has had on the former nurse in terms of realising her need to change.

Sheriff Patrick agreed to defer sentence, stating that it would be helpful to the court to have the "fullest reports possible" given Rennie's "alarming pattern of offending".

She said: “Given the very serious nature matters you have pleaded guilty to and the nature of your previous convictions I am going to call for reports.”

Rennie will return to court for sentencing at a later date and will be remanded in custody until then.