A 'bad and cunning' mother of two who wrongly claimed that she had terminal cancer to take care of her rich partner from thousands of pounds to pay for a Boobbaan and Spa treatments avoided the prison.
Laura McPherson, 35, told company director Jon Leonard that she had cervical, ovary, colon, intestine and breast cancer and even led her young daughter to believe she died.
Judge Jonathan Straw said on Wednesday a community order at Derby Crown Court and said that she had started an extensive story of deception for more than five years.
“You have those who are closest to you, that you were diagnosed and suffered from terminal forms of cancer,” he told Sobbing McPherson.
'It is difficult to imagine how a person could be so calculated and cruel for those who loved her and cared for her.
“It was a deliberate, narcissistic route to attention and money.”
The court heard that she was running Mr. Leonard, who is ultra events, a platform for charities, to give her £ 24,248.52 for treatments that he thought could save her life.
This included a trip to the Mayr Resort on Lake Worthersee in Austria, where she enjoyed a holistic program for weight loss, as well as breast augmentation in Manchester.
Laura McPherson arrives today at Derby Crown Court. The 35-year-old told company director Jon Leonard that she had cervical, ovary, colon, intestine and breast cancer
Judge Jonathan Straw said about the behavior of McPherson (photo): 'It was a deliberate, narcissistic route to attention and money'
In an emotional victim impact statement read to the court, Mr. Leonard, 44, (photo) said that she had stolen for eight years of his life and had left him with 'feelings of total despair, destroyed by self-doubt and emotional scars'
In an emotional victim impact statement read to the court, Mr. Leonard, 44, said that she had stolen for eight years of his life and left him with 'feelings of total despair, destroyed by self-doubt and emotional scars'.
She was, he said, a compulsive liar who had told friends and even her young daughter that she had cancer.
This concerned him phone calls from the school of McPherson's daughter because she had demolished herself and worried that her mother would die.
“Even after she has argued guilty, she has spread disgusting lies over me over the past three years,” he said, “and she has never shown repentance.”
He said he was 'gas light' and described that he was waking up by her screaming at him to sleep through when she had finished all night, was sick.
At one point he bought her a Rolex of £ 30,000 that she wanted, reasoning that it was wrong to deny it to someone whose life would soon end.
At one point he contacted one of the leading private cancer specialists of Great -Britain and arranged an appointment for her, but she insisted that she would rather stay with her NHS treatment.
He said it even made him out of it with his oldest friend who had become a deputy head of nursing in a hospital in Swansea.
Mr. Leonard said that McPherson (photo) was a compulsive liar who told friends and even her young daughter she had cancer
The court heard that McPherson would use her cancer as an excuse to get from meetings and even advise other employees whose family members had been diagnosed with cancer
He told Mr. Leonard aspects of McPherson's treatment and that you 'would not go directly to the gym after chemotherapy'.
“I was willing to fall out with my friend,” he said, “I remained completely isolated.”
At the time of her lies, McPherson worked as a marketing director for her friend's company, Ultra Events, that helped to collect more than £ 39 million for causes of charity.
The court heard that McPherson would use her cancer as an excuse to dive out of meetings and even advise other employees whose family members had been diagnosed with cancer.
On one occasion, she exploded with anger when an employee said her father had chosen to die with the disease instead of taking chemotherapy.
Public Prosecutor Siward James-Moore said the couple met in 2011 and that she was very well foreseen by her partner whose company did well.
In March 2017 she announced for the first time that she had cervical cancer and received treatment at the Royal Derby Hospital.
At that time, Mr James-Moore said, she asked her partner if he had medical insurance.
Public Prosecutor Siward James-Moore said that the couple met in 2011 and that she was very well foreseen by her partner whose things are doing well
“Between 2018 and 2022 she said differently that she had ovary, large intestine, intestine and breast cancer,” said Mr. James-Moore
At the time of her lies, McPherson worked as a marketing director for her friend's company, Ultra Events, which helped to collect more than £ 39 million for causes of charity
Despite his offers to accompany her to her various appointments, she was always on going alone.
“Between 2018 and 2022 she said differently that she had ovary, large intestine, intestine and breast cancer,” said Mr. James-Moore.
“She claimed to have traveled for treatment to the Mayr clinic in Austria (at the expense of Mr. Leonard).”
In 2020 she claimed to have had a hysterectomy.
“Strangely enough, she was depicted on a mountain two days later,” said the public prosecutor.
In the same year she said she would need a breast amputation, but used the opportunity to keep breast augmentation in Manchester at the expense of Mr. Leonard.
On New Year's Eve 2021, Mr. Leonard dropped her out for treatment with her cervix.
When he asked for a selfie, she told him she was on a drip and her phone was broken.
On one occasion, McPherson exploded with anger when an employee said her father had chosen to die with the disease instead of taking chemotherapy
McPherson received a community order and will be subject to an evening clock from 7 pm to 6 am for five nights of the week after he was found guilty of fraud
She had even taken a taxi to Coventry to celebrate the new year.
When they were arrested and questioned about the claim of fraud in 2022, she denied it and accused her friend to check it.
In mitigation, her lawyer Laura Pitman said she was suffering from 'depression, fear and symptoms of trauma'.
She said she was now supported by her parents and a new partner Alex and a baby got in March.
She called on the judge to save her prison and instead gave her intensive intervention of the probation service to find out why she had acted as she did.
Mrs. Pitman said that her client has no earlier convictions of any nature whatsoever and 'accepts her behavior spans for a number of years' and that she has suffered from fear and depression. She said: 'People might wonder why a young woman behaved in the way she has.
“She feels terrible for the way she behaved. She has sought external support to look at her behavior. There is no further offended by her. There is a more constructive way in which Laura McPherson can be treated instead of custody. '
She received a community order and is subjected five nights of the week to an evening clock from 7 pm to 6 am after being found guilty of fraud during an earlier hearing.
The judge also ordered her to spend 30 days with the probation service and warned her that if she broke one of them, he would immediately send her to prison.
A further hearing date of 6 June was established for a revenue of crime hearing.
