Evil mum fakes cancer in her child to steal £4,000 from charity set up in memory of three-year-old boy

A HEARTLESS mother falsely claimed her child had cancer so she could steal from a charity set up in memory of a three-year-old boy whose life was tragically cut short.

Charlotte Blackwell claimed the teenager was receiving palliative care and set up a GoFundMe campaign to support him.

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Caring 33-year-old Natalie Ridler offered her help after her own son Morgan died of a rare form of liver cancer just days before his fourth birthday.

Blackwell stole £4,000 from the Morgans army Charity foundation that has raised thousands to help other families.

She avoided prison after admitting the fraud and was instead sentenced to ten months in prison, suspended for 21 months.

In a victim impact statement, Natalie said Blackwell “preyed on us in one of our most vulnerable places. Periodsmanipulated us emotionally and took advantage of the situation.”

She added: “They behaved abominably over a period of several weeks, knowing they were lying and taking advantage of me.

“They basically cared for me for two weeks while my heart broke for them.”

Cardiff Crown Court was told that Blackwell's child had previously been ill when she falsely claimed there had been a relapse.

The mother contacted Natalie to get help from the charity and said the family was raising Money for treatment in Germany.

Because the child had already received cancer treatment, he passed the charity's initial screening.

Morgan's army donated to the Collect donations page, but Natalie learned that Blackwell had also written directly to her own supporters and asked for money.

The mother investigated further and found that Blackwell had heartlessly lied when she said her child had cancer.

Natalie said: “It turns out that one of this person’s children had been diagnosed with cancer a few years ago and was being treated at Noah’s Ark, which is why he failed our initial screenings.

“However, they had been in remission for some time, with no active treatment and no terminal prognosis, and, to put it in layman's terms, 'all clear.'

“Fortunately, all funds paid out to the person frozen and recovered at the time the fraudulent activities became known, so that no financial loss was incurred by the charity.”

In addition to a suspended sentence, Blackwell was given a curfew and must complete 180 hours of unpaid work and attend a ten-day rehabilitation activity.

She was also ordered to pay a victim services surcharge of £187 and legal costs of £150.

Little Morgan died on June 28 last year after being diagnosed with a rare and complex form of cancer in October 2021 at the age of two.

His mother and father posted about his brave battle against the disease on Morgan's Army social media pages, raising tens of thousands for charity.

After the verdict, Natalie said: “This man was the father of a child whose disease was in remission and it amazes me that someone who went through that could do that to another cancer family.”

“I will not allow a harsh world to make us hard. The loss of Morgan has given us more compassion and empathy than ever before and I will not allow one person's actions to make us forget what Morgan taught us.

“I pride myself on being an honest and loving person in a tough world… We have certainly learned our lesson and adapted our processes so that this cannot happen again. Our charity will be stronger for it.”

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