‘Devious and wicked’ – Wedding-scam woman who claimed to be dying
A“DEVIOUS and wicked” bride who told a charity she had only six months left to live to con them out of £15,000 has been spared an immediate jail term.
The full scale of her actions, described as “the lowest of the low” by a judge, was exposed at a sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court yesterday.
In a brazen move, as we previously reported, Carla Louise Evans, 29, from Caerphilly, told volunteers from Wish Upon a Wedding, which provides financial assistance to terminally ill brides, that she had bladder cancer, thyroid cancer, and liver and kidney failure.
Her actions have had a devastating impact on the charity worker who had booked her wedding.
The court heard how, in her application for money, Evans wrote an online appeal to the charity.
It said: “Me and my husband are celebrating our 10-year anniversary by renewing our vows and have recently been told that I am terminally ill so we have to arrange the wedding for short notice... it would be February 15, do u guys have this date available? And how much do you charge?
“Also, I understand a deposit would probably be required but as my condition could worsen at any time there could be a chance that I might not make February and would have to cancel at short notice, would there be an extra charge for this as we are running on a very tight budget.”
The charity responded, saying it would be happy to help but wouldn’t be able to promise anything. It also asked for some form of documentation
after being scammed by people in the past.
Evans responded: “That’s disgusting!!! Makes me angry that people can con others when me and my husband have worked all our lives!!
“Like I said hun we don’t want or expect any form of special treatment and are willing to pay but we are on a tight budget so just wanted to see what the cheapest price u could do would be and to make sure that if something does happen before the wedding that we aren’t going to be losing hundreds of pounds that we don’t have to begin with lol.”
When asked to give the timescale of her terminal illness, Evans wrote: “I have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, liver and kidney failure and recently bladder cancer. I have been given a timescale of six months maximum without transplants.”
The charity offered the mother-oftwo a vow renewal worth £15,000 and she was told she would only need to pay a fee of £500 towards the overall cost.
Unperturbed by the charity’s request, Evans forged a letter from NHS consultant urologist Dr Adam Carter which tried to back up her fictitious claims of terminal illness.
But volunteers from the charity became suspicious and contacted the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport where Evans claimed to be receiving treatment, but they had no knowledge of her supposed condition. They contacted the police and an investigation was launched in conjunction with the NHS counter fraud team, which exposed Evans’ lies.
She was arrested and initially denied being responsible for the forged signature but she later pleaded guilty of attempting fraud by false representation.
In a victim personal statement read out to the court by prosecutor Emma Harris, Karen Hopkins from Wish Upon a Wedding who dealt with Evans’ case, said she would “never be able to trust another person” and had since stopped volunteering for the charity.
She said: “Having to ring round and tell the suppliers my judgement of Carla was wrong and the event would not be going ahead was the hardest thing I have had to do in the wedding industry.
“I feel responsible for putting suppliers through those emotions, I honestly believed Carla was dying and those suppliers have been left out of pocket and I can’t afford to pay them back.”
In mitigation, defence barrister Ashanti Walton said Evans was remorseful for her actions and deeply ashamed.
She added: “(Evans) is a single parent with two children, who are her world, and the possibility she may go to prison has frightened and upset her but she appreciates she only has herself to blame.
“She has received an array of abuse on Facebook, via text and via phonecalls. Strangers have approached her in the street and told her how disgusted they are.”
Sentencing, Judge Jeremy Jenkins said he would not be sending Evans, who remained expressionless in the dock, to prison but only because of her two young children.
In a damning judgement, he said: “This was a despicable act, the lowest of the low. To pretend you had a lifethreatening illness to gain a financial advantage shows a contempt for decency which is hard to find.
“In my judgement it shows a protracted and determined contempt for all that is decent. It takes a particularly devious and wicked type of person to do that; you are a particularly devious type of person.
“You should be utterly ashamed of yourself, your behaviour beggars absolute disbelief.
“You have suffered abuse from people on social media and have lost friends. You deserve to lose friends for what you did.
“You have two young children who depend on you, what an example to set them for the rest of their lives.”
Evans, of Second Avenue, Trecenydd, was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 15 months. She was ordered to carry out a 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement, 120 hours’ unpaid work and to pay court costs of £340.
Speaking after the sentencing, senior crown prosecutor Lisa Bennett, of the CPS, said: “Carla Evans callously took advantage of the sympathy afforded to a dying lady to try and con a very small charity out of money. Our prosecution was able to uncover the lies but the depths she was willing to stoop have caused great hurt and damage to the charity volunteers who believed her and gave up significant time and money to support someone they thought was gravely ill.”