A Bridgend estate agent has been handed a suspended prison sentence after concocting a fake overseas wedding to steal more than £12,000 from her fiancé’s family.

Charlotte Blackwell, 31, has now pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud at Cardiff Crown Court. It heard that between November 2022 and May 2024, she created fake flight confirmations, hotel bookings and emails claiming to be from travel agents.

Spelling mistakes

The scam fell apart when her future mother-in-law, Paula Thomas, spotted spelling mistakes on documents supposedly from TUI. She had paid £3,296 towards the supposed ceremony, while three of her friends each contributed around £3,000.

When Thomas checked with TUI, the booking reference related to a different holiday for an elderly couple from the previous year.

Judge Jonathan Rees KC slammed the “fiction” and “pack of lies”, imposing a 12-month prison term suspended for 18 months, with 120 hours of unpaid work.

I’m sorry, it was to pay off debts and gambling. I have now put a block to all sites.”

When arrested, Blackwell admitted she had been “falsely arranging” a wedding to pay off gambling debts. She told police: “I’m sorry, it was to pay off debts and gambling. I have now put a block to all sites.”

Blackwell’s barrister, Alice Sykes, said her client gambled to try to recover money after giving up work when her daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer. The court heard Blackwell now works full-time at an unnamed estate agency in Bridgend, earning £1,700 per month and also receives Universal Credit.

Judge Rees ordered Blackwell to pay £3,500 in compensation to three victims and £3,250 to the fourth, as well as £150 in prosecution costs.

Wales Online reported that her wedding scam was Blackwell’s second fraud conviction. In August 2024, she received a suspended 10-month sentence for attempting to defraud Morgan’s Army, a children’s cancer charity, out of £4,000 by falsely claiming her daughter needed treatment in Germany when the child was in remission.