text: Conman: Neil Moore was on remand at Wandsworth Prison when he sent fake email posing as court clerk . A 'hedonistic' conman who escaped from prison after sending staff a fake email saying he had been granted bail has been jailed for seven years. Neil Moore, 28, was on remand at Wandsworth Prison in south-west London for a £1.8million fraud when he emailed wardens posing as a court clerk manager at 'Southwalk Crown Court'. It allowed the fraudster to brazenly walk out of prison on March 10 last year, an escape motivated by Moore's fear he would be harmed by fellow inmates after striking up a relationship with a transgender individual at HMP Wandsworth. Moore's escape only became apparent three days later when his solicitors attended the prison for a conference with him and discovered he was gone, London's Southwark Crown Court heard. The judge, Recorder David Hunt QC, described the escape as 'sophisticated and ingenious'. He said: 'The way you contrived your escape was potentially more of a threat to the integrity of the prison system, and therefore to the public, than the mere use of brute force. 'And in my judgment there is an obvious need to deter others from trying to procure their escape through the same or similar means.' While behind bars Moore set up a website, using the address and telephone number of the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, using an 'illicit' mobile phone that was used widely in the prison. He created a domain name similar to the court service's hmcts.gsi.gov.uk, emailing the custody mailbox from an account ending hmcts-gsi-gov-uk. Investigations, with the help of Homeland Security in the US, revealed Moore set up the website using the name of the officer who was investigating him, Detective Inspector Chris Soole. Moore grew up in Trinidad and Tobago, where he had a difficult relationship with his parents on account of his sexuality. John Femi-Ole, defending, said: 'His sexual orientation is something of a taboo, he tells me, within the community of which he was a member.' Neil Moore's partner Kristen (left) leaving London's Southwark Crown Court . Mr Hunt said: 'I accept that you may have had a troubled early life as a result of your sexual orientation, but that can be no excuse for committing fraud.' He said Moore committed 'sophisticated' frauds to fund a 'hedonistic lifestyle'. When Moore's grandfather died he left him an amount of money which he frittered away partying, the court heard. Mr Femi-Ole explained that after Moore left his native country, he changed his name and entered a civil partnership, committing the frauds to continue funding the lifestyle he had grown accustomed to. 'He became addicted and intoxicated by it, and the lifestyle he was able to enjoy. He entered into a civil partnership with a transgender individual,' he said. It was this relationship that ultimately led Moore to make his escape from prison, after they were both sent to HMP Wandsworth, it was said. Mr Femi-Ole said: 'He (Moore) and his partner were remanded into prison, Wandsworth Prison. Their relationship became revealed, he tells me, by the guards.' He described these as 'dark days' for the pair, with Moore fearing being raped or killed after his partner was granted bail. 'It was in these circumstances that he felt he could not tolerate the situation and escaped in the way the crown describe.' The court was read a letter from Moore in which he described feeling suicidal at the time of the fraud offences. It read: 'I committed these offences and continued living a fake fictitious lifestyle, pretending to be someone I am not, with a life full of glamour and partying.' 'There is something Great Gatsbyian about that', said Mr Femi-Ole, continuing to read: 'I wanted to feel loved and accepted. During the time of these offences I was extremely depressed and unhappy.' The court heard that Moore also tried to kill himself on several occasions, 'drinking excessively and partying' in an attempt to block out how he was feeling. Escape plan: Moore brazenly walked out of Wandsworth Prison (pictured) after sending a fake email to wardens saying he had been granted bail. The judge described the escape as 'sophisticated and ingenious' Mr Femi-Ole told the court the letter by his client was a 'window into his soul' and demonstrated his remorse. Opening sentencing last month, prosecutor Ian Paton said: 'Having been remanded in custody by the court, and realising the reality of what he had led himself into, and what was waiting to be uncovered, he promptly set about adapting his skills for deceit, dishonesty and forgery to that new environment and he engineered his escape.' After being contacted by his lawyers Moore contacted his representatives and surrendered. He admitted eight counts of fraud in which he posed as staff from banks such as Barclays, Lloyds and Santander to dupe major organisations such as Thomas Exchange Global into handing over significant sums of money. The court heard that Moore used up to four aliases to commit the frauds worth a total of £1,819,000, sometimes putting on a woman's voice to dupe his fraud victims. He was so convincing that his partner Kristen Moore was initially charged alongside him, believed to be involved in the scams, Mr Paton said. All charges against Moore's partner were later dropped. Moore answered phone calls from his victims with a man's voice and then pretended to transfer them to his colleague, resuming the conversation himself in a feminine voice. Moore, from Ilford in Essex, admitted eight counts of fraud, and one count of escape from lawful custody, and was jailed for a total of seven years. Dressed in a dark grey suit and black polo neck jumper, he remained impassive as he was sentenced. Ronnie Biggs escaped from Wandsworth Prison in 1965 after scaling a wall with three other prisoners . Neil Moore is not the first to escape from Wandsworth Prison. In 1965, notorious Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs broke out after scaling a 30ft wall with three other prisoners. A ladder was thrown over the wall from the outside during the prisoners' afternoon exercise session and the escapees climbed it before lowering themselves down into a waiting van. But that break for freedom pales in comparison to some of these daring and unusual prison escapes from around the world: . By makeshift rafts . By helicopter . By can opener . By maintenance truck . By tunneling underground .
target: Neil Moore, 28, was on remand at Wandsworth Prison for £1.8million fraud .
  He posed as court clerk manager at 'Southwalk Crown Court' in fake email .
  The judge described Moore's escape as 'sophisticated and ingenious'
  Moore's escape motive linked to transgender partner he met in prison .