Woman used cancer story to dupe men in £27,000 swindle
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A serial conwoman who duped a string of men out of thousands of pounds by pretending she had cancer has been jailed.
Caroline Morgan, 36, of Warmley, near Bristol, admitted swindling more than £27,000 from her victims. Jailing her for 18 months at Swindon Crown Court yesterday, Judge John McNaught said: "You used a series of relationships to provide the context for deceptions. You managed to get a great deal of sympathy by pretending to be terminally ill."
She was sentenced for 16 offences, all of which she admitted - two of obtaining money by deception, eight of obtaining property by deception, three thefts and three of using a false instrument - involving four victims between 2002 and 2005. Also taken into consideration were 68 further deception matters, all of which she admitted.
The court heard she met the engineer Christopher Morgan, her first victim, in 2002, married him the following year, then left him in August 2004 when he confronted her on why he was receiving letters about credit cards and bank loans. It later emerged that Morgan had taken out a £15,000 loan in his name and spent an unknown amount on credit cards also in his name.
Then homeless, Morgan contacted Julie Frew, a former neighbour. She was soon staying with Ms Frew in Chippenham. While enjoying Ms Frew's hospitality, Morgan took out a £2,000 bank loan in her name, spent nearly £900 on her credit card and ran up a £300 phone bill by calling premium-rate dating lines. She also swindled another two men, Alan Owen, 48, and Christopher Blom, 40.