A young English mother faces jail for conning friends and strangers out of thousands of pounds by falsely claiming she had terminal cancer, after dramatically changing her plea to guilty on the first day of her trial.
Police in the United Kingdom said Danielle Watson "acted in a cold and calculated manner" by appealing for donations, goods and services for her wedding, after announcing in January 2012 that she had late-stage cervical cancer with only a 15 to 20 per cent chance of survival.
The 24-year-old from Colchester, Essex, brought her wedding forward by several months to April, saying she wanted to walk down the aisle before radiotherapy and chemotherapy made her hair fall out, Marcus Croskell, prosecuting, told Basildon Crown Court at hearings held yesterday in Southend, Essex.
He detailed how Ms Watson claimed a bandage from keyhole surgery on suspected ovarian polyps was in fact the sign of a positive cancer biopsy - despite having already been given the all-clear on cancer.
After giving interviews to local newspapers and magazines, she took money from friends and complete strangers who raised almost 10,000 pounds ($20,300) through events to provide cash for additional vitamin C treatment treatment.
