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In Rogue Agent, which is out in theatres now and is available to stream via AMC+ and Netflix, James Norton portrays convicted British conman and imposter Robert Freegard.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, the real Robert Freegard (also known under the names David Hendy and David Clifton) posed as an MI5 agent, attracting his victims while working under the guise of a car salesman or bartender. He mainly targeted women, but some men also fell victim.
In most cases, victims would be convinced to hand their money over to Freegard, under the pretense that their family was in danger from the IRA.
Freegard was eventually arrested in 2002 and found guilty of two counts of kidnapping, 10 of theft, and eight of deception. He denied all charges against him but was sentenced to life in prison on September 6, 2005.
His capture came after months of surveillance aided by the parents of his American girlfriend Kim Adams, who worked with the FBI and Scotland Yard to secure his arrest at Heathrow Airport in the U.K.
As seen in Rogue Agent, Freegard was released from prison in 2009. His original two life sentences for kidnap by fraud were revoked by the Court of Appeal, which ruled Freegard's victims had not been physically held against their will.
Today, his whereabouts are unknown, but as seen at the end of Rogue Agent, there are believed to be a lot more victims of Freegard. If you have seen Netflix's The Puppet Master, the family of Sandra Clifton believed she may be another one of his victims today.
Speaking to Newsweek, Norton shared that while working on the movie, he and the team behind Rogue Agent received some interesting phone calls, which they "have reason to believe" could have been Freegard himself.
Norton shared: "We also wondered whether he had reached out to us. We had a couple of phone calls from some dubious characters who claimed to have known him and Rob Taylor [Rogue Agent producer] put the phone down afterwards and was thinking if you're a narcissist of Freegard's nature, and you're trying to ingratiate yourself with a movie about you, you're surely going to try and reach out to the producers and weed your way in and so we have reason to believe that perhaps he had reached out at some point and that was quite creepy."
The gripping movie depicts Freegard at the height of his con-artistry and his demise at the hands of one of his victims, Alice Archer, played by The King's Man's Gemma Arterton.
Alice is not a real person, but she is heavily inspired by the real woman who brought Freegard to justice.
Adam Patterson, director, and co-writer of Rogue Agent, explained to Newsweek: "We found the character of Alice Archer to be perfect and a representation of what a lot of these people went through. And then, of course, there is the character of Sophie, who has a very different journey in the film. She's been under his belt for like 10 years. So we felt that those two characters, in particular, represent a lot of the other victims and hopefully does them justice."
Rogue Agent also traces the jaw-dropping true stories of John Atkinson, Sarah Smith, and Maria Hendy, whose names have been changed to Phil, Sophie, and Mae in the movie.
In the 1990s, Freegard was able to convince three Harper Adams Agricultural College students John Atkinson, Sarah Smith, and Maria Hendy that he was an MI5 undercover agent investigating an IRA cell at the institution.
After gaining their trust, he convinced the trio his cover had been blown, and as a result, their lives and their families were at risk at the hands of the IRA. He managed to drain them of all of their money under the guise of protection.
Atkinson eventually saw through Freegard's lies but Hendy went on to have two children with Freegard, and Smith remained on the run with him for 10 years. Smith's ordeal only came to an end with Freegard's arrest in 2002.
Reflecting on the ending of Rogue Agent and what happened to Freegard, Norton said: "I guess there's a certain wonderful like...there's a justice and a kind of catharsis in his demise. I mean, yes, he's out there but he was caught, he was convicted. We all know who he is. He didn't get away with it and he didn't get away with it because of a group of incredibly strong-minded and formidable women at the accost of the FBI agent.
"The character who Alice's character is based on, the [real-life] lawyer the other female victims and male victims when they were mostly female, coming together in the same vein as the Tinder Swindler, it's so wonderful to see someone so villainous, and just a disgusting individual be brought to justice and so I guess it's not really a lesson. It's more of a kind of catharsis. You know, goodness will prevail. If you stick with it, I guess."
Rogue Agent is out in theatres now and is streaming on AMC+ and Netflix U.K.
About the writer
Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on ... Read more