A Cheshire woman has been jailed for duping her closest friends and relatives into believing she was dying from cancer.
Antonia (Toni) Standen, formerly known as Antonia Atherton, 29, of Widnes, admitted one charge of fraud by false representation during a hearing at Chester Magistrates' Court last month. She appeared for sentencing at the same court on Tuesday, 22nd December 2020.
Fraud by false representation is an offence under section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006. It has a maximum penalty of 26 weeks' custody and/or an unlimited fine on summary conviction; 10 years' custody and/or an unlimited fine on conviction on indictment.
Standen's deception started in June 2015 when she told two friends, Ashlea Rowson and Jennifer Douglas, that she had been diagnosed with cancer of the vagina.
Clearly an accomplished liar, unemployed Standen provided her friends with regular updates on her treatment and prognosis. So elaborate was Standen's deceit, Ashlea and Jennifer never doubted for one moment that she really was suffering from an incurable form of the disease. Standen even went so far as to shave her head and pretend it was a result of the treatment she was receiving.
A GoFundMe page was set up in Standen's name, with the intention of raising funds for her upcoming wedding to fiance Jim, who was totally oblivious to her deception. An archived version of the GoFundMe page can be viewed here. The page was only a fortnight old at the time it was archived, but it had already received £6,469 worth of donations from 205 different donors.
By the end of the campaign local residents and businesses had donated money and gifts to the value of £8,344 in the hope of giving the couple "the wedding they deserve" before Standen succumbed to her illness. All the while Standen's father, Derek Atherton, who was also taken in by her lies, really was suffering from terminal cancer and died shortly before the wedding.
Standen married at St Bede's Church, Widnes in the last week of July 2019.
A video message by her late father Derek was played at the reception, which was attended by 150 guests. It was noticeable to some how upbeat Standen appeared, despite her mother and brother sobbing at Derek's message from the grave. Everton FC, of whom Standen is a keen supporter, also sent a video message for the special day.
Suspicion grew about Standen's medical condition shortly after the wedding.
In the hotel a friend saw her rifling through wedding cards and counting up the cash gifts inside. Despite claiming to be terminally ill, with cancer having spread throughout her body, Standen rushed away to Turkey on honeymoon seemingly without a second thought about her health.
In January 2020 a post appeared on Standen's Facebook account claiming she had only two months to live and was suffering from multiple organ failure. Bizarrely, her death was announced on Facebook only a month later, despite friends knowing that she was still alive.
In March 2020, despite fears about coronavirus, Standen again appeared to "defy" her illness by touring across Europe. She returned claiming to have coronavirus, which left friends bemused at how well she appeared to be coping with it.
The deception carried on until April 2020, when friends began to question Standen's story and she finally admitted it was all made up.
District Judge Nick Sanders, sentencing, described Standen's crime as a "horrible breach of trust".
"You continued to embellish that tissue of lies, saying you had weeks to live", the Judge said.
"I don't accept you couldn't stop. Not only did you not stop, you made it worse by giving newspaper interviews to engender public sympathy.
"You used that money raised through the generosity of strangers to fund a wedding and a holiday.
"You kept taking money over many months. Every right thinking member of society would be appalled by your behaviour."
Standen was sentenced to 5 months' immediate custody and ordered to repay £2,000 of fraudulently obtained donations.
On the details as reported, I think I might have decided this was case where the offender had high culpability and was more suitable for sentencing at the Crown Court.
Here is a fraudster who has shamelessly conned literally hundreds of people - including her nearest and dearest - over many, many months. In doing so, she has undermined the efforts of those organisations and individuals working tirelessly to support those genuinely battling against cancer. She has played the media in an effort to add credence to her story and bolster donations. For all the financial value of her crime might not be that high (relatively speaking), there are many aggravating features that increase its severity.
Neil Colville, Senior District Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire said: "Toni Standen made up a terminal illness to gain sympathy and then watched as her friends raised money to support her through what they thought were her final years. She used that money to fund a wedding and a holiday.
"Her own father was genuinely ill but her condition was a fraud. She appears to have dug herself deeper and deeper into the deception as the years went by and seemed incapable of telling the truth and bringing the deception to an end.
"A local business man donated £2,000 as he was so moved by her plight. He said in a Victim Personal Statement that he would think twice before giving to this sort of charity again.
"This was a sophisticated fraud, carried out over a number of years and has left her friends and others devastated. They feel cheated and betrayed.
"It is clear this has had a devastating effect on Ms Standen too. But she has only herself to blame and will now spend Christmas and several months after behind bars."
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