Facebook bridal gowns conwoman faked her own death

Caroline Oates, 21, pocketed nearly £3,000 and even offered unsuspecting buyers a chance to win a dress if they bought raffle tickets, with the proceeds supposedly going to a cancer charity.

One bride-to-be who fell foul to the con said some of the targeted women have had to cancel their weddings because they couldn’t afford it.

When Oates - who had spent the money on “bills, food, loans and a new fridge freezer” - was contacted by customers as to the whereabouts of their dresses and wedding accessories she “fobbed them off with lies”.

These varied from “the supplier had gone into liquidation” to faking her own death.

Pontefract Magistrates Court heard on Wednesday that Oates pretended to be another family member and claimed Caroline had been taken to hospital.

Diane Gomersall, prosecuting, said: “She told them she was Ellie and not Caroline and that Caroline was poorly, then told them that Caroline had gone into intensive care.

“She even made the excuse, which was a lie, that Caroline had died.”

Mrs Gomersall described the victims as “all living on low budgets and trying to plan special events dear to them”.

After a Facebook site was set up by her victims and the scope of her deception was apparent Trading Standards and the police were contacted. Oates was arrested in May last year.

She told officers that “she had thought she would try to set up a business but it had gone wrong” and she couldn’t remember how many people had put money into her account.

Kim Foley, mitigating, said: “She has seen other people doing something similar and she has followed suit.”

She added that she found the claims Oates made on the site that the owner of the business had been taken into intensive care and subsequently died as outrageous.

“She said she didn’t know if there was any other way out,” said Mrs Foley.

Oates, who had pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud by false representation last month, was jailed for 26 weeks.