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10/09/2012
'Cancer' Fraudster Escapes Jail
A woman who pretended to be terminally ill to con a west Belfast family out of nearly £5,000 has escaped jail.
Margaret Hood said she had only weeks to live and needed funds to travel to the USA for treatment, where she pledged to inquire about treatment for a terminally-ill member of the family.
Instead, she spent the Tomans' money on holiday in Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Along with her accomplice Henry Fenton, Hood appeared in Belfast Crown Court on Friday.
Both pled guilty and walked free, despite a judge saying they deserved to go to jail.
Judge Tom Burgess suspended the pair's 18-month prison terms for three years to ensure that the £4,435 was repaid.
He also took into account the fact that Hood, who has a long history of faking illnesses, was suffering from a delusional psychological disorder called pseudologica fantastica, which caused her to crave attention.
The fraudsters targeted the Tomans with their bogus story of illness at a time when one of the family was ill with terminal cancer.
Speaking outside court, a family representative said that Hood and Fenton had conned the justice system on top of conning them.
Judge Burgess said: "This was a nasty, cynical and unconscionable course of behaviour by these two defendants. They preyed on a vulnerable family and they did so for financial gain."
Frankie Toman died a year after the family were conned out of the cash.
His son Connor said: "They played us, they played the court and they played the system."
(NE)
Margaret Hood said she had only weeks to live and needed funds to travel to the USA for treatment, where she pledged to inquire about treatment for a terminally-ill member of the family.
Instead, she spent the Tomans' money on holiday in Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Along with her accomplice Henry Fenton, Hood appeared in Belfast Crown Court on Friday.
Both pled guilty and walked free, despite a judge saying they deserved to go to jail.
Judge Tom Burgess suspended the pair's 18-month prison terms for three years to ensure that the £4,435 was repaid.
He also took into account the fact that Hood, who has a long history of faking illnesses, was suffering from a delusional psychological disorder called pseudologica fantastica, which caused her to crave attention.
The fraudsters targeted the Tomans with their bogus story of illness at a time when one of the family was ill with terminal cancer.
Speaking outside court, a family representative said that Hood and Fenton had conned the justice system on top of conning them.
Judge Burgess said: "This was a nasty, cynical and unconscionable course of behaviour by these two defendants. They preyed on a vulnerable family and they did so for financial gain."
Frankie Toman died a year after the family were conned out of the cash.
His son Connor said: "They played us, they played the court and they played the system."
(NE)
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