A mother of two, described by a judge as 'wicked and devious,' duped her wealthy partner by faking a terminal illness, using the money for cosmetic surgery and luxury treatments—yet has avoided jail. Laura McPherson, 35, convinced businessman Jon Leonard that she was battling multiple forms of cancer, including cervical, ovarian, colon, bowel, and breast cancer. She even misled her own young daughter into believing she was dying.
Appearing at Derby Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Jonathan Straw condemned her 'elaborate tale of deceit,' which spanned five years, but handed her a community order instead of a prison sentence. 'You told those closest to you that you had been diagnosed with and were suffering from terminal forms of cancer,' he told sobbing McPherson. 'It is difficult to imagine how an individual could be so calculating and cruel to those that loved and cared for her.
' 'It was a deliberate, narcissistic route to attention and money,' Straw told McPherson. The court learned she deceived Leonard, who operates Ultra Events, a charity-focused platform, into giving her £24,248.52, believing it would fund life-saving treatments.
The money paid for a retreat to the Mayr Resort in Austria, situated on Lake Worthersee, for a holistic slimming program, plus a breast enhancement operation performed in Manchester. During a heartfelt victim impact statement presented to the court, Leonard, 44, expressed that she had taken eight years of his life, leaving him with 'feelings o.
