when I walked into our front room on Christmas Eve 2015, the atmosphere was electric. Waiting for me was James, the heroic fireman I’d fallen in love with, and my daughters Laura and Katie, then both in their early teens. Perched in the Christmas tree was a book entitled Coleen Scott’s Wedding Diary, and inside was every detail of the wedding James had secretly planned, from cake tasting to the honeymoon. On the page for 17 December 2016, he had written: ‘12pm at Wynyard Hall – marry me?’
That magical moment seems dreamlike now. I was soon to learn that the man I loved was a complete fake. James wasn’t even his real name.
I first heard of James Scott in September 2014, when ‘Firefighter J likes you’ popped up on a dating site. My 17-year marriage had ended amicably a couple of years earlier, and I was dipping my toe into the dating scene. I wasn’t looking