Woman used money for ‘dying’ boy to fund trip to Warhammer World
A WOMAN lied about a young boy being terminally ill to persuade people to donate to a fraudulent online fundraising appeal, a court heard.
Opal Taggart conned well-wishers out of £5,837 after implying a 15-year-old boy had two inoperable brain tumours and was receiving palliative care.
However, it later emerged that the teenager was not terminally ill and Taggart had been ‘exaggerating’ how sick he was. The 39-year-old, of Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, used the cash generated on the website GoFundMe to pay for a trip to a miniature figurine exhibition in England.
Taggart pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to the single fraud charge, relating to cash raised between May and April 2020.
The first offender was yesterday tagged for 27 weeks, keeping her indoors between 7pm and 7am. The court heard that the boy, now 17, has a ‘large number’ of health issues and requires additional support.
Prosecutor Robbie McDougall said: ‘There were growing concerns in relation to matters perhaps being exaggerated in terms of the child’s medical condition.’
He added that the boy’s school was under the impression the youngster was ‘terminal’ and receiving ‘palliative care’.
Mr McDougall said: ‘It was flagged that a GoFundMe page was established by Taggart, who made reference to the child havbeing ing inoperable brain tumours.’
The hearing was told the initial target was £1,500 to ‘take a trip with the boy to Warhammer World’, an exhibition centre featuring miniature fantasy figurines.
Mr McDougall added: ‘There was reference to creating memories for the boy and language relating to his tumours inoperable, under palliative care and that the child was terminal.’
Social work contacted police who investigated medical evidence. It was found Taggart’s statements were ‘misleading’ and the boy was not suffering from a terminal illness.
Mr McDougall said: ‘It was established that the GoFundMe was falsely representing the condition of the boy.’
Ross Yuill, defending, told the court that there was an ‘exaggerating of his health difficulties’.
Sheriff Amel Elfallah told Taggart: ‘You exaggerated his health problems to deceive other people to give you money and it is completely wrong as well as unacceptable.’