A “CHRONIC liar” from Gwynedd has been jailed after making illegal gains of £3,570 from the bereavement charity which employed her.

Stephanie Jones, 30, of Tai Newyddion, Nebo, Caernarfon, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment at Caernarfon Crown Court today (March 22).

Between August 2020 and January 2021, Jones was said to have submitted 19 false invoices for counselling sessions which had never taken place.

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Prosecuting, Patrick Gartland told the court that Jones took up a role as an immediate support worker in February 2020 with “2Wish”, a charity supporting those affected by the sudden death of a child or young person.

In this role, she was not a counsellor herself, but was responsible for death referrals from Liverpool, North Wales and Stoke.

Once families had received counsellors, it was Jones’ job to maintain contact with them.

She had told her employers that she had a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in sociology, could speak seven languages, and lost her own twin sister, called Sarah, to cancer at the age of five.

Despite this, it was the prosecution’s understanding that Jones, in fact, has a master’s degree, and does not have a deceased twin sister.

Indeed, during a longer period of time, Jones was said to provided different versions as to how and when her twin sister had died.

All of the charity’s counsellors were self-employed, and would invoice the organisation monthly.

But when references to a counsellor named “Sarah Jones” were found, further checks uncovered numerous errors.

Details of a family whose daughter had been murdered had been entered without their consent, while invoices paid to “Sarah Jones” were made under the name “S Jones”.

The sort code and account number attached to “Sarah Jones”, meanwhile, matched that of the defendant.

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In some cases, Jones was said to have fabricated stories about children who had died, and the reactions of their relatives.

Another instance saw Jones make a referral about a young person who she went to school with, who had been murdered.

The police were then said to have later attended his grieving family’s address to ask them whether or not they had indeed received any counselling from 2Wish.

Jones, who had no previous convictions, “used the trusting nature of her colleagues” to defraud the charity, Mr Gartland said.

Defending, Elen Owen accepted that this involved “extremely serious offending”, not least due to the “nature of the charity”.

The full amount taken from 2Wish by Jones was said to have been repaid in full.

Ms Owen said that Jones was “in a very deep, dark place” at the time, and had been left with large debts following a breakdown in a previous relationship.

“This led to her behaving in a manner entirely out of character,” Ms Owen added.

Jones was said to have “led a blameless life” prior to this incident, and had been brought up by an “extremely supportive, good family”.

She was said to suffer from clinical depression, severe insomnia and chronic fatigue, and is currently being assessed for autism.

Both of her parents were said to be dependent on her, particularly her mother, given her own health issues.

With this in mind, as well as Jones’ “genuine remorse” and “realistic prospect of rehabilitation”, Ms Owen urged the imposition of a suspended sentence.

“If Ms Jones is not going home today, her mother will almost certainly end up in residential care,” Ms Owen added.

Despite this, Judge Nicola Saffman ruled that only immediate custody could suffice as punishment for Jones’ “utterly callous behaviour”.

Jones must also pay a £156 statutory surcharge.

Judge Saffman told Jones: “These extremely vulnerable people, having endured unthinkable tragedy in the loss of a child, placed so much trust in you.

“You also provided the most vile, unthinkable and despicable fraudulent referrals in respect of young people who actually had been murdered, including a young person from your own locality.

“All of this must affect the reputation of this fantastic charity, which was set up to help people in their darkest hour of need.

“This matter is so serious that only an immediate sentence of imprisonment is appropriate.”