An individual formerly employed as a police officer has been sentenced for exploiting and deceiving multiple romantic partners to fuel his gambling addiction. Lewis Rollins, who served as a police constable in the Met’s Central West Command Unit, manipulated women he met on dating applications to support his uncontrollable betting habit.
The 29-year-old duped women into giving him substantial sums of money to assist with his escalating debts while misleading them about his actual financial state. Testimony at Southwark Crown Court revealed that Rollins simultaneously dated two women and received money from both. He later engaged in a relationship with a third woman who borrowed £4,000 to help settle his debts.
Rollins was found guilty by a jury of two counts of coercive or controlling behavior and three fraud charges. Additionally, he was convicted in a separate trial of assaulting another woman who intervened to protect her flatmate, with whom Rollins had a relationship.
Dr. Georgia Miller encountered Rollins on Bumble in April 2022 and detailed his outbursts of anger, verbal abuse, physical violence, and possessive behavior, which included monitoring her phone. In July of the same year, he physically attacked her in a hotel room in Birmingham due to suspicions of communication with an ex-partner.
Financial records presented to the jury indicated transactions where Dr. Miller transferred funds to Rollins at his insistence for repayment, which he diverted towards gambling. Another woman, Alisha Steeds, who began seeing Rollins in February 2022, provided him with money for rent.
Rollins admitted to having the intention to repay these loans but failed to do so, misusing the funds for gambling purposes. Emily Busby, a trainee solicitor who met Rollins online in 2023, lent him money out of sympathy. She gave him £800 for a rental deposit after he squandered funds received from his parents.
In December 2023, she borrowed £4,000 for Rollins, of which she handed over £2,500 to him while using the remainder to settle her own debts. During sentencing, Ms. Busby disclosed financial losses and ongoing debt as a result of her interactions with Rollins, expressing emotional and financial distress caused by the ordeal.
Rollins, now 29, received an 18-month community order and a requirement to complete 30 rehabilitation activity days. Additionally, he was instructed to reimburse Ms. Busby £3,132.50 within six months. The judge emphasized the impact of Rollins’ actions on the victims and the severity of the consequences, opting for a community sentence with substantial obligations to address the harm inflicted.
