Con artist lied that she had a PhD and that she’d had a twin who died from cancer to get job at bereavement charity that she fleeced out of £3,600
- Stephanie Jones, 30, from north Wales, submitted 19 false invoices to the charity
- Jones, of Nebo, admitted to fraud by abuse of position over nine months
- Rhian Burke, 45, set up 2 Wish Upon A Star to offer support to grieving parents
A con artist posed as a doctor and claimed that she’d had a twin who died from cancer to help her get a job with a bereavement charity before she fleeced them of £3,600.
Stephanie Jones, 30, from Nebo, north Wales, defrauded the charity by inventing a counsellor and sending false invoices to the charity for sessions which never happened.
Overall, she had submitted 19 false invoices for a total of £3,570 in nine months between 2021 and 2022.
The real family of a murdered girl were even visited by police to check if they had been counselled as Jones claimed.
A judge at Caernarfon Crown Court described Stephanie Jones’s behaviour as ‘vile, unthinkable and despicable’ and called her a ‘chronic liar’.
Stephanie Jones, 30, from Nebo, north Wales, (pictured) defrauded the charity by inventing a counsellor and sending false invoices to the charity for sessions which never happened
Jones admitted to fraud by abuse of position at the ‘2 Wish Upon A Star’ charity set up by Rhian Burke (pictured) following the death of her son George and husband Paul in 2012
Jones admitted to fraud by abuse of position at the ‘2 Wish Upon A Star’ charity and was jailed for 12 months.
The charity – whose ambassadors include actor Michael Sheen, singer Aled Jones, and presenter Nick Knowles – has expressed its ‘sadness’ over the ordeal.
Prosecutor Patrick Gartland said the charity had been set up in 2012 to support families and others in the immediate aftermath of the sudden loss of a child.
Jones applied for a job there as an Immediate Support Coordinator in February 2020.
The 30-year-old claimed to have a PhD doctorate degree in Sociology, which entitled her to call herself Doctor, however, it was revealed she had only taken a Master’s degree at Bangor University.
She also claimed she had had a twin sister who died aged five from cancer and could speak seven languages.
Mr Gartland said she gave ‘different versions’ of the supposed death of her sibling and her claim turned out to be untrue, the court heard.
Her employment found her responsible for councillor referrals from Liverpool, North Wales and Stoke and to maintain contact with counsellors once families had been assigned.
Jones had made up a counsellor called Sarah Jones with a fictitious company and address.
Invoices paid to Sarah Jones were paid under the name ‘S. Jones’ but to an account which had Stephanie Jones’ sort code and account number.
Jones admitted to fraud between August 28, 2020 and January 21, 2021.
Elen Owen, defending, said her client remembers things differently compared with what she is accused of saying, however, she ‘created something of a persona’ and there was a ‘clear element of exaggeration’.
Read More: Double tragedy for mother, 35, after baby son died suddenly and husband who couldn’t cope with loss fell to his death from motorway bridge five days later
She said her client had suffered from debts and the breakdown of a relationship.
In 2018 and 2019 she had made complaints of a domestic nature and there had been a possible serious assault, which she did not make a complaint about.
Ms Owen added: ‘It was not a case of a pre-planned enterprise to steal. It was Ms Jones’ poor emotional state at the time that affected her thinking (and) had a significant impact on her flawed decision-making process. She was in a very deep and dark place.’
She said Jones has clinical depression and a history of self-harm.
Both of her parents, especially her wheelchair-using mother, rely on her and it was said if Jones were imprisoned it is ‘almost inevitable’ her mother would have to go into residential care.
Ms Owen also said all the money has been repaid to the charity ‘2 Wish Upon A Star’.
The judge Her Honour Nicola Saffman said: ‘You provided false invoices to the charity in a false name of Sarah Jones.’ In one case, the police had to go to the home of the dead girl’s parents to check if they had been counselled.
The judge said Jones had brought the good name of the ‘2 Wish Upon A Star’ into ‘disrepute’.
The judge said Jones had brought the good name of the ‘2 Wish Upon A Star’ into ‘disrepute’. Pictured: Paul Burke, pictured with the couple’s son George, left, and Rhian and Paul Burke on their wedding day, right
She added: ‘All of this must affect the reputation of that fantastic charity which was set up to help people in their direst and darkest hour. You are a chronic liar and it was an abuse of trust on extremely vulnerable individuals.’
Jones’s behaviour was ‘vile, unthinkable and despicable’ and only an immediate prison sentence was appropriate, said the judge.
After the sentencing hearing, Detective Sergeant David Hall, of North Wales Police’s Economic Crime Unit, said: ‘This was a particularly distressing case to investigate as we had to approach bereaved parents with information which would potentially add to their anguish.
‘The actions of Jones were callous in the extreme, preying on the charity who are there to help people in their hour of need.
‘I am grateful to the charity for their patience whilst the investigation took its course, the CPS for their work and the witnesses who assisted us in bringing her to justice.’
The charity, 2 Wish Upon A Star, was created by Rhian Burke, 45, in memory of her baby son and husband who passed away in two tragedies only five days apart.
Mrs Burke was still reeling from the death of 12-month-old George from a seizure when her grief-stricken husband Paul fell to his death from a motorway bridge only five days later.
Mrs Burke’s husband Paul, 33, fell to his death from a motorway bridge five days after baby George’s passing following a seizure
She set up the bereavement charity to support all those affected by the sudden death of a child or young adult aged 25 or under throughout Wales.
She previously said: ‘I believe Paul would still be alive today if he had received immediate trauma counselling.
‘Paul and I were made to walk the length of the hospital with the nurse carrying our dead child, watching as other mothers went by with their pushchairs.
‘Then we were ushered out without any proper help or advice. That’s when I knew there was a major gap in the system, with nobody taking responsibility for bereavement support.’
The charity’s website said that Mrs Burke ‘gained strength’ from raising money for charity in George and Paul’s names and found the work be a ‘source of comfort and focus’ during the hard period.
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