Durham crown court heard how the scale of Lyne Barlow’s swindling, which also involved stealing the financial identity of her mother and borrowing money from neighbours and friends that was not paid back, has been estimated at £1.2m.
Jailing Barlow, 39, yesterday, the judge, Joanne Kidd, said the defendant had “an extraordinary talent for dishonesty” and was a “thoroughly callous individual”.
Kidd pointed to Barlow’s fraud against her own mother, which came shortly after she was widowed. “You mercilessly abused the trust of your nearest and dearest in their darkest hours. You set about targeting other vulnerable people of your acquaintance and who trusted you to satisfy your need for a relatively lavish lifestyle.”
Durham constabulary said it was one of the biggest fraud investigations it had ever undertaken.
Many of Barlow’s victims never went on the holidays they paid for or were sometimes stranded in foreign countries.
Barlow’s relatives thought she had cancer, with family members duped into taking her to hospital for fake appointments.
This story is from the February 04, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 04, 2023 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Progress on heart disease 'at risk after Tory NHS failures'
Decades of progress in tackling heart disease and strokes is in danger of unravelling in part because of NHS failures under the last government, a report into the state of the health service in England will argue.
Corruption 'red flag' on £15bn Covid contracts
Corruption \"red flags\" in government Covid contracts worth more than £15bn have been uncovered, representing nearly one in every three pounds awarded by the Conservative administration during the pandemic, according to a detailed study.
Scores of MPs could refuse to back Starmer over cut in fuel payments
PM urges backbenchers to support measure he accepts is 'unpopular'
Workers' rights Reform plans 'backed by senior managers'
Labour's plans to boost workers' rights have widespread support from senior managers, a survey suggests, as the TUC hits back at corporate lobbying against the proposals.
Starmer: We will tackle people smuggling gangs in same way we dealt with rioters
Keir Starmer has vowed to break up people-smuggling gangs in the same manner used to apprehend and jail hundreds of rioters this summer.
Gustafsson quits as CEO of Darktrace after sale
Poppy Gustafsson, the co-founder and chief executive of the British cybersecurity firm Darktrace, is to leave the company after its $5.3bn (£4.2bn) sale to the US private equity business Thoma Bravo.
Owner of Ivy 'close to deal' to sell chain to private equity
Richard Caring and fellow shareholders are reportedly close to selling the Ivy chain of restaurants for £1bn to a little-known private equity group.
'Like a boiling pot' - How the maelstrom under Greenland's glaciers may help slow sea level rise
There are stadium-sized blocks of ice crashing from the soaring face of the Kangerlussuup glacier in western Greenland, fierce underwater currents of meltwater shooting out from its base and visibility below the surface is virtually zero owing to a torrent of suspended mud and sand. It's little wonder scientists have never explored this maelstrom.
The state of the race - Why North Carolina shows how tight the US election really is
The narrow geographical focus of the US presidential election is becoming sharply apparent, with the first ballots to determine the next occupant of the White House starting to be mailed out to voters.
Amsterdam's pot crackdown: pavement gardeners bemused over city's new rules
Residents have reacted with bemusement at plans by authorities in Amsterdam to crack down on what it sees as a plague of messy plant pots.
