Con artists tried to fleece woman in a coma

Borough magistrates heard that Katherine Lyon and Daniel Roe went into the Barclay’s Bank branch in Leigh last year and the latter passed over a piece of paper containing bank details of his desperately-ill girlfriend, who was actually in a coma in intensive care.

He claimed that Lyon was this person and said that she had not been well, adding that he was her carer and had lost her bank card.

Roe then asked to withdraw £290 from the account.

But there was a flag on the account, so the bank knew that Lyon wasn’t the named person, the alarm was raised and the pair were arrested.

Roe, 47, of Orchard Street, Scholes, appeared before justices in September to admit to fraud and was given a 12-month community order with a drug rehabilitation requirement and 20 days of rehabilitation activities.

He was also ordered to pay £340 comprising a victim services surcharge, court costs and a fine.

Now Lyon, 48, of Styal Prison in Cheshire, has now also been punished after pleading guilty to dishonestly making a false representation and was given an 18-week prison sentence.

The chairman of the bench told her: “The offence so serious because the victim was in a coma in hospital.

“You played a leading role in the offence and it would not have been possible without your participation.”

Lyon had initially denied another charge on the same day - November 8 2019 - of being armed with a large kitchen knife in Bradshawgate.

But she subsequently changed her plea and was given another 12 weeks in prison for this crime. The sentence will run concurrently with the fraud punishment. She was also ordered to pay £122 towards victim services.

Lyon, then of Standishgate, Wigan, received an eight-week jail term at the beginning of the year for attacking a police officer.

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