Woman who faked cancer gets probation

Jennifer Halford took donations for a cancer diagnosis she was never given and a fictional home in Fort McMurray that never burned down in the wildfire. The 35-year-old Calgary mother pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud under $5,000 for collecting more than $1,000 in donated meals, toys, gift cards and clothes — a widely publicized case that elicited threats and made Halford the target of what a judge called “mob mentality.”

But another story emerged at her sentencing hearing on Monday, about a mother reeling from the death of her four-year-old daughter, grasping for support.

Court-ordered psychiatric and psychological assessments found Halford was suffering from depression and anxiety, brought on by her daughter’s illness and ultimate death in 2011. A number of health issues stemmed from “dramatic weight gain” during the two years she cared for the child, her lawyer, Michelle Parhar, said Monday, which led to pain in her chest that she believed was breast cancer or would become breast cancer.

In the winter and spring of 2016, Halford lied to members of a Fort McMurray wildfire support group on Facebook as well as the congregation of a Calgary church, according to an agreed statement of facts submitted in court. On one occasion, Halford posed as a “friend,” asking a Facebook group to help Jenn, a cancer patient who escaped the fire and lost everything.

On another occasion, in April 2016, Halford wore a cancer scarf during a visit to Church of Christ, where parishioners were organizing donations to help her through her supposed breast cancer treatment, the agreed statement of facts said.

The defence and Crown presented a joint submission on Monday, asking for a suspended sentence.

“She’s effectively not the type of offender for which there’d be any utility in making an example of her,” Crown attorney Jason Wuttunee said.