A son pretended he was dying from cancer to trick his dad out of £2,000 so he could visit his online girlfriend in America.
Scheming Darren Altham told his family he was set to undergo treatment at The Christie hospital after being ‘diagnosed’ with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
He played on his family’s concerns after he found a lump under his arm.
Altham, 33, said he was terminally ill, despite not receiving any test results and said he wanted to visit the States ‘before he died’.
Richard Blackburn, prosecuting, told Rochdale Magistrates’ court how the son ‘manipulated’ his dad Trevor into lending him £2,000 so he could go to the US to meet a woman he had met playing games online.
He left the day after being given the cash on May 3.
But during his visit, his family noticed that £600 had disappeared from his dad and step-mother’s joint account.
It transpired that Altham, of Rose Hill Street in Heywood, Rochdale, had also stolen a debit card and used it to book his flights, as well as pocketing the £2,000 cash his dad gave him.
He was arrested at Manchester Airport when he returned from America.
Altham claimed his dad offered to lend him the £2,000 so he didn’t pay interest on a bank loan - and denied lying about having cancer.
After being released on bail, he returned to his dad’s home to admit his guilt and hand himself in to police.
Although Altham has still to receive the results of medical tests for the lump on his arm, there is still no indication he is actually sick.
His dad Trevor told the court he felt ‘sad’ about his son’s apparent condition - and that he didn’t want him to ‘miss the opportunity’ to travel to America.
He said the loan put him under ‘financial pressure’ and insisted he wouldn’t have given his son the cash if he hadn’t believed he was ill.
Altham pleaded not guilty to fraud by false representation at the beginning of his trial, but changed his plea half-way through the proceedings.
Mitigating, David Hewitt said his client Altham had ‘over-egged the pudding’ after finding a lump under his arm.
Altham was handed a 24-week sentence, suspended for two years, for fraud by false representation.
He was handed three separate 18-week sentences for two other counts of fraud and for stealing his step-mother’s debit card, to run concurrently.
Despite owing his dad £2,621, Altham will only have to pay back £500 because he’s still without work. His family are also letting him return home.
Chair of the bench Barbara Kayol told the thieving son: “This is so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified, because of the significant breach of trust.
“You are incredibly lucky your father is prepared to have you back home and support you after what you have done.”
Altham told the court: “I’m sorry for what I’ve done to my family. I hope to make amends.”
