caught in a WEB OF LIES

Kirat spent years embroiled in a complex online scam

Lying on her bed, Kirat Assi closed her eyes and listened to her boyfriend Bobby's breathing as he drifted off to sleep.

It was hard being apart, but with phone calls they found ways to feel close.

Kirat, then 37, worked as a radio presenter in London.

She talked to Bobby for hours every day, and even recorded Harry Potter books for him to listen to.

The problem was they were in a long-distance relationship with no apparent end in sight.

The pair had met via family members online when Kirat was 29.

Her cousin and friend, Simran Bhogal, had dated Bobby's brother JJ.

But after they'd split, JJ unexpectedly died from an allergic reaction.

 

Kirat sent condolences to Bobby, and an online friendship gradually developed from there.

At the time Bobby, who was a cardiologist, had a wife and son, so there was no suggestion of romance.

Kirat could see from his Facebook profile that he'd attended some of the same Sikh community events she had. Believing he was from a respectable family and someone her cousin knew, she trusted him.

'He started talking to me more regularly, and things were going wrong in his life - he was confiding in me.

His marriage was crumbling,' Kirat said on the podcast Sweet Bobby.

She became a shoulder to cry on and, by 2011, Kirat was sharing her own troubles with Bobby.

The pair had still never met in real life, but they had a strong online friendship.