Single mum escapes jail over Leeds Festival online tickets scam

Katie Blagden, 20, narrowly escaped jail after pocketing £2,950 without supplying the tickets and was told by a judge: “You are a thoroughly dishonest young woman.”

Prosecutor Neil Coxon said Blagden, who worked at the Vintage Rock Bar in Doncaster, advertised cut-price VIP tickets for the 2011 Leeds Festival and Sonisphere in Hertfordshire on Facebook.

She asked for £150 up-front for the tickets and all the money went into her bank account.

The victims included a student who forked out £400, a welfare officer who paid £1,500 and an accountant who was conned out of £450.

“No tickets were ever received by any of the victims of the crime,” said Mr Coxon.

The disappointed punters chased up Blagden by text and email and even arranged to pick up the tickets but she never showed up for meetings. She promised refunds but it was a lie.

As the heat grew she deleted her Facebook and Twitter accounts and changed her mobile number.

Blagden, of Princess Street, Wombwell, near Barnsley, admitted one offence of fraud.

James Gould, defending, said she was offering to pay back the disgruntled punters in full with cash given to her by her mother.

Judge Alan Goldsack said from outward appearances Blagden was a “respectable young woman” but she could be “thoroughly dishonest” when necessary.

He went on: “Various people gave you money, you didn’t provide the tickets and the money disappeared for your own uses.”

He ordered Blagden to repay the money within 14 days and gaver her a 32-week jail term suspended for two years with 150 hours of unpaid community work.