Linsey Cotton at Paisley Sheriff Court (Picture: Mike Gibbons)
A mother and daughter committed suicide in a hotel room after a twisted fraudster convinced them they would be jailed for 20 years.
Linsey Cotton, 33, dragged Nicola McDonough and her mother Margaret in a complicated web of lies that involved a phantom girlfriend, a bogus stem cell trial, a fictitious murdering doctor and a fake government cover-up.
Cotton, a single mother from West Lothian used 15 phones, two laptops and two tablet computers to convince her victims she was more than a dozen people – including a nurse, a barrister and a government official.
She terrorised the mother and daughter until they checked into a Premier Inn, took pills and slashed themselves, Paisley Sheriff Court heard.
Cotton is currently in prison, awaiting sentence.
A mother and daughter committed suicide in a hotel room after a twisted fraudster convinced them they would be jailed for 20 years.
Linsey Cotton, 33, dragged Nicola McDonough and her mother Margaret in a complicated web of lies that involved a phantom girlfriend, a bogus stem cell trial, a fictitious murdering doctor and a fake government cover-up.
Cotton, a single mother from West Lothian used 15 phones, two laptops and two tablet computers to convince her victims she was more than a dozen people – including a nurse, a barrister and a government official.
She terrorised the mother and daughter until they checked into a Premier Inn, took pills and slashed themselves, Paisley Sheriff Court heard.
Cotton is currently in prison, awaiting sentence.
Nicola McDonough committed suicide after Cotton convinced her she faced 20 years in prison (Picture: Scottish Daily Mail)
The bizarre scam began when Cotton posed as her own step-sister, Steph, on Plenty of Fish.
She met Margaret’s son, Michael, a 33-year-old RAF corporal, and they pair began chatting on the phone.
One day Cotton rang Michael and said ‘Steph’ had been attacked and was in hospital with a bleed on the brain.
She then told Michael ‘Steph’ had been chosen for a pioneering Stem Cell trial with a company called Biotech.
By now Michael believed ‘Steph’ was his girlfriend and asked to see her.
But Cotton said she could not because the trial included a strict confidentiality clause.
Cotton’s lies became more elaborate.
She told Michael a Biotech doctor had tried to kill Steph by poisoning her with drugs, that the Government were involved and that the press had been banned from reporting the case.
Cotton convinced Michael she was ‘Steph’s’ closest friend.
The bizarre scam began when Cotton posed as her own step-sister, Steph, on Plenty of Fish.
She met Margaret’s son, Michael, a 33-year-old RAF corporal, and they pair began chatting on the phone.
One day Cotton rang Michael and said ‘Steph’ had been attacked and was in hospital with a bleed on the brain.
She then told Michael ‘Steph’ had been chosen for a pioneering Stem Cell trial with a company called Biotech.
By now Michael believed ‘Steph’ was his girlfriend and asked to see her.
But Cotton said she could not because the trial included a strict confidentiality clause.
Cotton’s lies became more elaborate.
She told Michael a Biotech doctor had tried to kill Steph by poisoning her with drugs, that the Government were involved and that the press had been banned from reporting the case.
Cotton convinced Michael she was ‘Steph’s’ closest friend.
Margaret McDonough killed herself along with her daughter (Picture: Renfrew Shire Lib Dems)
She tricked him in to giving her money and told him to buy ‘Steph’ an expensive pendant for her birthday and an engagement ring.
Meanwhile Cotton convinced her own friends and family it was she who was engaged to Michael.
Cotton then lured Nicola and Margaret in to the web of lies- telling them that to save Steph from they must write a letter to the European Court of Human Rights to say how much Michael had been affected by the case.
Both women agreed but Cotton told them their letters were not good enough, that they had breached the secrecy surrounding Biotech and now faced 20 years in jail.
Both women were left terrified at the prospect of spending their lives in jail.
Cotton said she knew a lawyer who could make the case go away and that for £500 she could get them false passports so they could flee abroad.
Three days later Margaret and Nicola were found dying at the Greenock Premier Inn.
Cotton admitted fraud, falsely threatening Margaret and Nicola with prison and conning Michael out of money and gifts. She was not charged in relation to the deaths of the mother and daughter.
Her lawyer, Gerry Bann, told the court his client felt ‘remorse and shame for the upset and anguish her deplorable conduct caused the family’.Anyone feeling distressed or suicidal can call CALM on 0800 58 58 58 or the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90.
Metro
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