Heartbroken mum whose daughter, 15, died in Manchester terror attack slams twisted fraudster who invented daughter in £140,000 insurance scam
A "DISGRACEFUL" fraudster who invented a daughter she claimed was maimed in the Manchester terror attack to con £140,000 in handouts has been slammed by a mum who lost her 15-year-old girl in the tragedy.
Heartbroken mum Charlotte Hodgson, 38, from Bury, Greater Manchester, is still mourning teen daughter Olivia Campbell who died in the atrocity on May 22 last year during an Ariana Grande concert at the Manchester Arena.
And she's reacted with fury after Susan Pain, 51, designed a sick lie by telling insurance firms her "daughter" Sophie had suffered severe injuries in the blast carried out by Salman Abedi.
Pain, who does not have any children, was yesterday jailed for two years after admitting two counts of fraud at Liverpool Crown Court.
Reacting to the sentencing, Mrs Hodgson told The Sun Online: "What this woman has done is utterly disgraceful.
"The whole country knows the scale of this tragedy and what happened. 22 innocent people died that night, as well as hundreds injured and thousands affected.
"So many people have been devastated by this event, and yet she gets just two years for creating a daughter and conning the country out of thousands.
"How could anyone with a conscience do that?
"Maybe while she is locked up she gets the help she truly needs."
She claimed just over £139,000 through 31 fraudulent insurance claims – including a cancer scam involving a friend’s son.
Pain, with shoulder-length blonde hair and wearing a black polka dot dress, stared at the floor as she was sentenced.
She was discovered after her final claim told how a daughter she did not have was injured in the Manchester terror attack.
Christopher Hopkins, prosecuting, said: "The defendant in fact had no daughter and the claim was of course false."
Judge Alan Conrad QC said: "I am sure all right-minded members of the public would be shocked, in particular, that you would use a tragedy which shook the nation as the basis for a fraudulent claim."
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Following the tragedy, Olivia's boyfriend Lewis Brierley revealed that she had texted him saying she was "having so much fun" at 9.53pm - the last message she sent before being killed in the massacre.
Lewis shared the heartbreaking photograph of their last text exchange as he paid tribute to his girlfriend - and vowed to "never forget her as long as I live".
He also paid tribute on Facebook, writing: "I loved her so much that I made sure every night... I would send her a paragraph to let her know just how much she meant to me and I only hope she knows I meant every word of it."
A heartbreaking video was released of Olivia singing her favourite song All Of Me by John Legend after her death was confirmed.