Stitch-up as wedding dresses ‘made in China’

A wedding dress boutique pair tricked brides-to-be into buying “handmade” gowns that had “made in China” labels on them and were really stitched in the Far East, a court heard.

Melanie Bishop, 36, and her mother Patricia, 60, the owners of Anna Sara Bridal in Newport, South Wales, conned the brides into thinking they were buying bespoke £1,000 gowns made in their workshop in Wales.

Both admitted 18 counts of “unfair commercial practice” at Cardiff Crown Court but each got suspended six-month jail terms. Judge Jeremy Jenkins said: “The dresses would not fit, deviated in colour and they were not handmade, one-off or bespoke.”