Sat in the driver’s seat of a 拢300,000 Rolls Royce, a teenage Jack Watkin had just one question. ‘Can you do, like, suede?’ he asks the salesman while pointing at the interior. “If you’re prepared to pay for it, then we’ll do whatever you want to do,” comes the reply. It was an early insight into the lifestyle and materialistic mindset that would see the self-titled ‘Kardashian of Cheshire’ commit a string of grasping and deceitful crimes. This week Watkin, 26, formerly of Wilmslow Road, Alderley Edge, pleaded guilty to six counts of fraud after duping unsuspecting victims into handing over almost 拢200,000 in a luxury handbag scam. A jury at Chester Crown Court heard he gained his victims’ trust with an ‘outward facade of a glamorous and luxurious lifestyle’. He spent his money in Harrods and staying in five-star London hotel The Dorchester, where he ran up a bill of more than 拢100,000, police said. But back in 2016, a then 17-year-old Watkin appeared in a Channel 4 documentary called ‘The Rich Kids of Instagram’ . It showed him apparently shopping for a new car at a Rolls Royce dealership in Wilmslow. As a narrator explains how Watkin’s family ‘made their millions in property’, the teen goes on to show off his 拢2,000 bright red Christian Louboutin trainers, before bragging: “We buy so many things then it’s like ‘How are we going carry all these things?’ It’s like a work-out really.” That same year Watkin also gave an interview to the Daily Mail in which, despite only just passing his driver’s test, he boasted about his 拢1.7m luxury car collection and his 拢500,000 Hublot watch. He said: “People say because we’ve got all these things around, the cars, the clothes, the house – they say we’re like the British Kardashians.” Describing his life as ‘blessed’, he added: “People think these things just happen, but it does take a lot of work. The pool doesn’t just clean itself, having a private jet doesn’t just fly itself.” This week a jury heard Watkin persuaded ‘a number of individuals’ to loan him large sums of money which he claimed would be used to buy luxury Hermes handbags. Because only select registered customers were allowed to buy the much sought-after bags, they often attracted a value far in excess of their original price when resold. The victims included friend Hannah Jakes, who he admitted defrauding of 拢98,500, Christine Colbert, owner of the Dress Cheshire boutique in Prestbury, his father, Jason Watkin, who lost 拢24,500 and Andor Farkas, a barman at Harrods, who believed Watkin, a regular customer, was a millionaire. But they were all ‘left out of pocket’, prosecutor Matthew Kerruish-Jones said. “The defendant would make excuses and avoid the complainants, all the while spending large sums of money on maintaining his seemingly lavish lifestyle,” he added. All the while Watkin was using the cash to live a luxurious lifestyle that he flaunted on social media. But his lies began to unravel when Ms Colbert turned amateur sleuth to snare the conman. Speaking outside court Ms Colbert, 58, told how she got in touch with fellow victim Hannah Jakes before the pair came up with a plan to find Watkin, who at the time was on the run from police. Ms Colbert said: “Our stories were so similar and we just knew that if we could get him to a meeting, probably rooted in another financial deal, which it was, we could probably pinpoint a place.” After arranging the meet, Ms Colbert waited in the car park of The Merlin pub, wearing a large hat and in someone else’s car, and when Watkin arrived she called 999. Judge Simon Berkson warned Watkin he faces jail when he is sentenced on September 3. He said: “You have today pleaded guilty to a number of charges of fraud. “Those charges are serious and involve a significant amount of loss to victims of your fraud. There’s no doubt only one sentence must follow from those guilty pleas.” A further count of fraud and two counts of theft were ordered to lie on file. Watkin was convicted earlier this year of nine offences related to indecent images. He was remanded in custody before his sentence.