Woman who worked for cancer charity faked having cancer herself in "abhorrent" fraud bid

Patricia Helen Robertshaw faked having cancer while she defrauded the cancer charity she worked for Credit: North Yorkshire Police

A woman who duped and defrauded a cancer charity - by pretending she had cancer - has been ordered to repay £26,207.

Patricia Helen Robertshaw, 42, of Barrowford in Lincolnshire, had been working as an events manager at Yorkshire Cancer Research in Harrogate.

In January 2017 she falsely claimed she had been diagnosed with cancer. She then took sick leave - on full pay - to attend non-existent medical appointments.

The North Yorkshire Police detective who led the investigation said it was "the most abhorrent fraud" he'd ever investigated in his 25 years as a police officer.

During the investigation it emerged that Robertshaw had previously worked at a university where she had issued fake qualifications to students there.

To get herself employed by the cancer charity in Harrogate, Robertshaw falsely claimed to have a PhD qualification. Her false claim led to her obtaining a promotion.

Robertshaw was jailed for four years and five months in March 2019 after she pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation and forging certificates.

After she was sentenced the detective leading the investigation said in 25 years he had never taken on such an "incomprehensible" case.

Detective Constable Shane Martin said: "This is the most abhorrent fraud case I have investigated in 25 years of being a police officer.

"It's absolutely incomprehensible that anyone could lie about having such a serious illness.

"Everything about the way Robertshaw conducted herself during this fraud is astonishingly unethical. It was a callous and calculated crime to try to trick her former employer - a charity that works for the good of real cancer patients and uses donations made in good faith to fund life-changing services and research.

"Fortunately though, the charity detected that something was amiss and that led to an extensive fraud investigation by North Yorkshire Police."

At a Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) hearing on Monday at York Crown Court, Mr Recorder Cook ordered that the defendant had benefitted from her offences to the value of £26,207.

A Confiscation Order was made for the defendant to pay this as compensation to Yorkshire Cancer Research within three months of face an additional 12 months to her jail sentence.