1 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:06,413 [Nicky] I never really thought that I'd meet somebody and get married. 2 00:00:06,413 --> 00:00:09,000 When I met Jason, things were different 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:11,206 and I knew that he was the right person for me. 4 00:00:13,103 --> 00:00:14,172 [Sam] The wedding that I wanted 5 00:00:14,172 --> 00:00:17,000 was the princess... Big, white wedding. 6 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:19,103 It upsets me and makes me mad 7 00:00:19,103 --> 00:00:21,206 that wonderful wedding that I had 8 00:00:21,206 --> 00:00:25,448 will always be tinged with a bit of sadness and anger. 9 00:00:27,172 --> 00:00:30,068 This woman had taken people's dreams away. 10 00:00:30,068 --> 00:00:32,379 [Nicky] I never really thought about a wedding planner before. 11 00:00:32,379 --> 00:00:35,896 That she's made one of our happiest days of my life, 12 00:00:35,896 --> 00:00:37,000 when I should have been celebrating 13 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:38,172 with my family and my children, 14 00:00:38,172 --> 00:00:41,068 to something that I can't look back on. 15 00:00:41,068 --> 00:00:43,689 Why would somebody that wants to make your day, 16 00:00:43,689 --> 00:00:46,000 the most special day in the world, 17 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,965 be as cruel as she was? 18 00:00:49,103 --> 00:00:52,172 [Dr. Sohom] She is faining this emotional connection 19 00:00:52,172 --> 00:00:54,379 because she saw them as victims. 20 00:00:54,379 --> 00:00:56,517 [Sam] My mum was dying with cancer 21 00:00:56,517 --> 00:00:58,103 and she saw pound signs. 22 00:00:58,724 --> 00:01:00,172 [Carl] To see all these people, 23 00:01:00,172 --> 00:01:01,931 they were absolutely heartbroken, horrified. 24 00:01:02,517 --> 00:01:04,896 They'd lost all their savings. 25 00:01:04,896 --> 00:01:06,517 [Dr. Sohom] This isn't some sort of fraud 26 00:01:06,517 --> 00:01:08,793 against a faceless corporation, 27 00:01:08,793 --> 00:01:10,310 these are real people. 28 00:01:10,310 --> 00:01:13,310 [Alex] This was a lot far reaching than just one or two people. 29 00:01:13,310 --> 00:01:15,758 Countless, dozens had been scammed. 30 00:01:28,103 --> 00:01:32,379 [interviewer] Thank you for agreeing to tell us your story. 31 00:01:32,379 --> 00:01:34,000 You aren't nervous? Wanna drink water, a cup of tea? 32 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:36,793 -No, okay. Thanks. -No. 33 00:01:36,793 --> 00:01:40,689 [Jason] We live in Harrogate, which is sort of Nort Yorkshire, cross country. 34 00:01:40,689 --> 00:01:42,689 I really love that, yeah. Really nice place to live. 35 00:01:42,689 --> 00:01:44,931 Really proud of where we live. 36 00:01:44,931 --> 00:01:47,724 He worked at the Army Foundation College with my uncle, 37 00:01:47,724 --> 00:01:49,620 who was also his best friend. 38 00:01:49,620 --> 00:01:52,379 And he went to say goodbye and punched me by accident. 39 00:01:52,379 --> 00:01:54,586 She didn't speak to me for couple of weeks after that. 40 00:01:54,586 --> 00:01:56,275 The amount of times I have apologized. 41 00:01:56,275 --> 00:01:58,689 And then in December we got together. 42 00:01:58,689 --> 00:02:00,344 Yeah. 43 00:02:01,517 --> 00:02:05,103 I never really thought that I'd meet somebody and get married. 44 00:02:05,103 --> 00:02:07,103 When I met Jason, things were different. 45 00:02:07,103 --> 00:02:09,413 I knew that he was the right person for me. 46 00:02:09,413 --> 00:02:12,275 She begged me for months. [chuckles] 47 00:02:12,275 --> 00:02:14,517 -He's not even joking. -For years. 48 00:02:14,517 --> 00:02:17,724 "We're gonna get married. We're gonna get married." So yes. 49 00:02:17,724 --> 00:02:19,724 [Nicky] After he had asked me, obviously I accepted. 50 00:02:19,724 --> 00:02:23,517 We turned around and we all ended up in this massive hope together. 51 00:02:23,517 --> 00:02:25,172 My daughter was crying. 52 00:02:25,172 --> 00:02:27,310 It was just lovely. It was just so special. 53 00:02:28,689 --> 00:02:30,379 [Jason] Weddings are massive, 54 00:02:30,379 --> 00:02:32,620 especially if you found somebody that you're in love with. 55 00:02:33,172 --> 00:02:34,448 I couldn't wait to get married. 56 00:02:34,448 --> 00:02:36,724 We were lucky enough to be able to put some money aside, 57 00:02:36,724 --> 00:02:39,103 to be able to pay, and put some money towards the wedding. 58 00:02:39,103 --> 00:02:41,724 [Jason] We planned for a really, really nice wedding. 59 00:02:41,724 --> 00:02:43,586 For whatever the figure was, we were ensuring 60 00:02:43,586 --> 00:02:47,275 that we were gonna pay for that prior to us getting married. 61 00:02:47,275 --> 00:02:50,172 So our future then would be so much better. 62 00:02:50,172 --> 00:02:52,103 I wanted to be debt free. 63 00:02:52,103 --> 00:02:55,896 We certainly didn't wanna go above £5,000 for the wedding itself. 64 00:02:55,896 --> 00:02:56,931 I was super excited. 65 00:02:56,931 --> 00:02:58,931 I was looking on Facebook, 66 00:02:58,931 --> 00:03:01,310 and there was quite a lot of selling cites on there 67 00:03:01,310 --> 00:03:02,517 and quite lot of it. 68 00:03:02,517 --> 00:03:04,482 I never thought about a wedding planner before. 69 00:03:04,482 --> 00:03:07,068 I saw Dana's post on Facebook 70 00:03:07,068 --> 00:03:11,000 and it really drew me to want to get married sooner. 71 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:14,206 The things that she was offering was everything that we wanted. 72 00:03:14,206 --> 00:03:17,275 Had a look on her page and everything looked really nice. 73 00:03:17,275 --> 00:03:20,448 [Jason] She had gone through all the reviews. I mean' she was very polite. 74 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:22,482 And then Nicky and her mum, 75 00:03:22,482 --> 00:03:25,896 decided to take a trip over before they're making any commitments. 76 00:03:25,896 --> 00:03:28,310 All the way over to Hull to go and visit her. 77 00:03:30,482 --> 00:03:32,379 [interviewer] Thank you for telling us your story. 78 00:03:32,379 --> 00:03:34,379 Do you wanna have a glass of water before we start? 79 00:03:34,379 --> 00:03:36,034 I wanna have a coffee. 80 00:03:38,206 --> 00:03:40,482 About in 2016, Dana messaged me, 81 00:03:40,482 --> 00:03:43,620 asking about some catering for weddings. 82 00:03:43,620 --> 00:03:45,310 Dana explained that she was a wedding planner 83 00:03:45,310 --> 00:03:49,000 and she was looking for somebody to catering for several weddings. 84 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,482 First I went to her house so she can show us photos of what she has done, 85 00:03:52,482 --> 00:03:54,172 discuss what we needed to do, 86 00:03:54,172 --> 00:03:55,827 and I can show them many options and stuff like that. 87 00:03:55,827 --> 00:03:58,689 Dana came across as a very genuine person. 88 00:03:58,689 --> 00:04:00,724 Seemed to have a real passion for what she was doing. 89 00:04:00,724 --> 00:04:01,931 She showed me lots of pictures. 90 00:04:01,931 --> 00:04:03,793 Stuff on the website, 91 00:04:03,793 --> 00:04:07,000 jobs and recommendations and good reviews that she had had. 92 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:08,793 It did look really good. 93 00:04:08,793 --> 00:04:09,793 Made good sense 94 00:04:09,793 --> 00:04:13,482 to hook up and push both businesses. 95 00:04:13,482 --> 00:04:16,586 We agreed to supply wedding buffets and hot food. 96 00:04:16,586 --> 00:04:20,172 Dana gave us couple of booking straightaway, which we fulfilled. 97 00:04:20,172 --> 00:04:22,103 Dana used to bring it all together. 98 00:04:22,103 --> 00:04:24,000 You see, you got photographers, car drivers. 99 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,172 There's like photo booth, special stands which were there, catering, 100 00:04:27,172 --> 00:04:29,517 everything seemed to go really well. 101 00:04:30,413 --> 00:04:31,793 When you involved with somebody like that, 102 00:04:31,793 --> 00:04:36,172 it's important that you make sure that everything goes legit 103 00:04:36,172 --> 00:04:37,310 and she really did, 104 00:04:37,310 --> 00:04:39,310 because it's your reputation on the line as well. 105 00:04:39,310 --> 00:04:41,689 They're advertising your food. 106 00:04:41,689 --> 00:04:44,586 Dana was using our catering name on the websites 107 00:04:44,586 --> 00:04:45,931 as well as the food. 108 00:04:45,931 --> 00:04:48,413 I had no problem with them using pictures at the time 109 00:04:48,413 --> 00:04:51,000 because it was generating income for us, 110 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,137 and everything seemed to go really well. 111 00:04:56,310 --> 00:04:57,620 [Sam] My name is Sam Leech. 112 00:04:57,620 --> 00:05:02,896 Me and Phil got engaged on 13th March, 2019. 113 00:05:02,896 --> 00:05:06,172 We had been together seven years before we got engaged. 114 00:05:06,172 --> 00:05:10,379 The plans changed because my mum was diagnosed with terminal cancer 115 00:05:10,379 --> 00:05:13,172 in the May of 2019. 116 00:05:13,172 --> 00:05:16,517 She had said to me and my brother, because we were both engaged, 117 00:05:16,517 --> 00:05:19,689 "I think you might have to bring your wedding forward." 118 00:05:19,689 --> 00:05:21,275 Me and Phil decided 119 00:05:21,275 --> 00:05:25,137 to plan the day for May, 2020. 120 00:05:26,586 --> 00:05:29,724 Because my dad had passed away three years previous, 121 00:05:29,724 --> 00:05:32,827 I asked my mum to give me away and walk me down the aisle. 122 00:05:32,827 --> 00:05:34,896 I wanted a big, wide wedding, 123 00:05:34,896 --> 00:05:36,586 and I wanted all my family there 124 00:05:36,586 --> 00:05:37,931 and all our friends. 125 00:05:39,172 --> 00:05:41,379 I was scrolling through Facebook, 126 00:05:41,379 --> 00:05:45,793 looking for people who come and dress places. 127 00:05:45,793 --> 00:05:48,275 We decided to have a marquee 128 00:05:48,275 --> 00:05:52,172 and I found a special offer that Dana had put on. 129 00:05:52,172 --> 00:05:56,034 So I messaged her and asked what was included in the price. 130 00:05:56,931 --> 00:05:59,413 Then explained to her my circumstances, 131 00:05:59,413 --> 00:06:03,000 and she offered her services. 132 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,379 [Phil] We actually thought nothing was wrong, you know? 133 00:06:05,379 --> 00:06:06,827 We just thought it was straightforward. 134 00:06:07,379 --> 00:06:08,931 [Sam] So the special price. 135 00:06:10,724 --> 00:06:15,310 I told Dana the reason why I was asking so many questions 136 00:06:15,310 --> 00:06:18,206 was because I'd had to bring my wedding forward 137 00:06:18,206 --> 00:06:21,172 because my mum had terminal cancer. 138 00:06:21,172 --> 00:06:24,724 She told me that her day job was a funeral director. 139 00:06:24,724 --> 00:06:26,413 She told me that she had lost her dad 140 00:06:26,413 --> 00:06:28,724 and it was important to have my mum there 141 00:06:28,724 --> 00:06:32,103 and she promised me that she'd make it all look beautiful 142 00:06:32,103 --> 00:06:34,103 so that the photos look beautiful, 143 00:06:34,103 --> 00:06:36,034 so my mum could be part of my wedding. 144 00:06:38,517 --> 00:06:41,172 [Alex] Time was of the essence, really, for them. 145 00:06:41,172 --> 00:06:42,793 A lot of time with weddings, 146 00:06:42,793 --> 00:06:46,103 stuff's planned months, sometimes years in advance. 147 00:06:46,103 --> 00:06:48,275 They needed something a lot faster. 148 00:06:48,275 --> 00:06:51,413 It is where Dana came in and was able to offer them something 149 00:06:51,413 --> 00:06:54,000 that met their expectations. 150 00:06:54,793 --> 00:06:56,482 [Sam] In one of my messages to her 151 00:06:56,482 --> 00:06:59,310 I called her an angel. 152 00:06:59,310 --> 00:07:03,931 She was really understanding of it. 153 00:07:03,931 --> 00:07:07,586 Took a lot of weight off your shoulders because your mum was poorly. 154 00:07:07,586 --> 00:07:10,310 -Yeah. -And that's the reason that you did it. 155 00:07:10,620 --> 00:07:12,000 And I just said, 156 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,103 "Just, let's go with it." 157 00:07:14,103 --> 00:07:16,413 It let Sam be with her mum. 158 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,620 After my first messages with Dana, 159 00:07:19,620 --> 00:07:22,103 she quoted me £1,500. 160 00:07:22,103 --> 00:07:26,724 We had agreed on a marquee, that she had got a favor from her friend, 161 00:07:26,724 --> 00:07:29,172 and the dressing of the marquee, 162 00:07:29,172 --> 00:07:32,275 a photo booth, love letters, 163 00:07:32,275 --> 00:07:34,413 a doughnut wall 164 00:07:34,413 --> 00:07:39,517 and then just extra bits, table center pieces and things like that. 165 00:07:43,103 --> 00:07:45,931 She was very lovely. She offered us a drink. 166 00:07:45,931 --> 00:07:46,965 She was very welcoming. 167 00:07:51,379 --> 00:07:54,103 She showed me everything that she had done. 168 00:07:54,103 --> 00:07:56,379 She has books full of stuff. 169 00:07:56,379 --> 00:07:58,586 She told me quite a lot about her family life 170 00:07:58,586 --> 00:08:00,172 and her son. 171 00:08:00,172 --> 00:08:02,793 I actually felt like I had known her for ages. 172 00:08:02,793 --> 00:08:05,482 [Jason] She showed loads of photographs, loads of books, 173 00:08:05,482 --> 00:08:06,896 loads of comments. 174 00:08:06,896 --> 00:08:09,379 You could see that the house was busy 175 00:08:09,379 --> 00:08:12,068 with all the wedding stuff that she's got. 176 00:08:12,068 --> 00:08:13,620 By the time we had finished, 177 00:08:13,620 --> 00:08:15,103 she said, "Yeah, we can do that. 178 00:08:15,103 --> 00:08:17,896 We can do the glasses, we can do the water jugs, 179 00:08:17,896 --> 00:08:21,413 the knives, the forks, the cutleries, everything. Yeah, we can do that." 180 00:08:24,379 --> 00:08:25,896 In Nicky and Jason's case, 181 00:08:25,896 --> 00:08:28,000 Dana went the extra mile. 182 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,172 She met Nicky and Jason in person. 183 00:08:31,172 --> 00:08:33,172 So, from their perspective, 184 00:08:33,172 --> 00:08:34,827 it probably feels less likely 185 00:08:34,827 --> 00:08:36,172 that she's going to do something dodgy 186 00:08:36,172 --> 00:08:37,379 or that she's a fraudster 187 00:08:37,379 --> 00:08:39,000 because most people would assume 188 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:43,275 that fraud is committed by a distant faceless corporation. 189 00:08:43,275 --> 00:08:46,310 When you have that personal interaction and that personal touch, 190 00:08:46,310 --> 00:08:47,758 you feel more comfortable, 191 00:08:47,758 --> 00:08:51,034 and the person you're speaking to comes across as more credible. 192 00:08:56,620 --> 00:09:00,896 Once we had been there we got almost persuaded to get more and more stuff, 193 00:09:00,896 --> 00:09:01,965 while we were there, 194 00:09:01,965 --> 00:09:03,482 which was brilliant for us because it was stuff 195 00:09:03,482 --> 00:09:05,000 that we didn't have to think about. 196 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,172 I really thought that it was a really, really good deal, 197 00:09:07,172 --> 00:09:09,793 and we could get married sooner 198 00:09:09,793 --> 00:09:12,344 and it was something that, you know, was in our budget. 199 00:09:13,068 --> 00:09:15,896 She was so nice that I thought 200 00:09:15,896 --> 00:09:18,275 I would want anyone else to not do it. 201 00:09:18,275 --> 00:09:20,275 I wanted her to be there, 202 00:09:20,275 --> 00:09:21,586 but I've never looked back 203 00:09:21,586 --> 00:09:23,275 and think that was the happiest time of my life. 204 00:09:23,275 --> 00:09:26,586 I look back and remember what she did. 205 00:09:26,586 --> 00:09:28,000 And I will never forgive her for that. 206 00:09:52,896 --> 00:09:54,655 Dana was very polite. 207 00:09:54,655 --> 00:09:57,655 She was very, you, "This is what we do. This is how we do it." 208 00:09:57,655 --> 00:09:59,689 So we thought it's a lot of money. 209 00:09:59,689 --> 00:10:02,172 But the good thing is, she turned around and said to Nicky, 210 00:10:02,172 --> 00:10:04,379 "You could pay off on a monthly basis." 211 00:10:04,379 --> 00:10:08,137 So it wasn't the fact we have that paid up straight away. 212 00:10:08,137 --> 00:10:10,655 It was done over a period of time. 213 00:10:10,655 --> 00:10:14,068 They agreed to a figure, which was just over £2,000 214 00:10:14,068 --> 00:10:17,965 and the agreement was as of October 215 00:10:17,965 --> 00:10:22,068 we were gonna pay £227 per month to her account 216 00:10:22,068 --> 00:10:23,586 up until the wedding, 217 00:10:23,586 --> 00:10:26,620 and it was for the marquee and stuff like that. 218 00:10:34,137 --> 00:10:35,862 Everything that I went to her with 219 00:10:35,862 --> 00:10:38,000 she was more than willing to help me. 220 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:39,896 It was really nice. I felt really supportive, 221 00:10:39,896 --> 00:10:43,275 so I'd message her and she'd always message me back. 222 00:10:43,275 --> 00:10:46,448 [Jason] All the way through, she was always there. She'd answer the phone. 223 00:10:46,448 --> 00:10:48,379 We always thought that she was like a friend 224 00:10:48,379 --> 00:10:50,413 rather than somebody who'd organize the things. 225 00:10:57,241 --> 00:10:59,758 I've never met Dana before. I had only messaged her. 226 00:10:59,758 --> 00:11:04,896 After my first messages, she quoted me £1,500. 227 00:11:04,896 --> 00:11:07,689 I thought that that price was too good to be true. 228 00:11:07,689 --> 00:11:10,482 So I arranged to meet Dana in person. 229 00:11:10,482 --> 00:11:13,000 and take by best friend with me, 230 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:17,172 because she was also going through personally what I was going through. 231 00:11:17,172 --> 00:11:19,965 And I thought she would give me the truth 232 00:11:19,965 --> 00:11:21,793 on what she thought of Dana, 233 00:11:21,793 --> 00:11:25,586 if she thought this lady is honest. 234 00:11:31,034 --> 00:11:35,586 I met Dana in July, 2019. 235 00:11:35,586 --> 00:11:38,379 She was setting up a christening at a club. 236 00:11:38,379 --> 00:11:42,793 And while I was there, she went over to the manager and said, 237 00:11:42,793 --> 00:11:44,896 "Oh, I'm gonna arrange that wedding fair." 238 00:11:44,896 --> 00:11:49,000 And because she was setting up, I thought this is what she does. 239 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:50,344 Her husband was with her 240 00:11:50,344 --> 00:11:52,068 and he was telling me how wonderful 241 00:11:52,068 --> 00:11:54,275 and how beautiful these weddings was 242 00:11:54,275 --> 00:11:55,896 that he'd help her with. 243 00:11:55,896 --> 00:11:57,793 So it was all believable. 244 00:11:57,793 --> 00:12:00,482 We sat outside with Dana and her husband 245 00:12:00,482 --> 00:12:02,172 and had a drink with them. 246 00:12:02,172 --> 00:12:04,896 They spoke about personal things to us as well. 247 00:12:04,896 --> 00:12:06,655 My friend said to me, 248 00:12:06,655 --> 00:12:10,517 "She is genuinely a nice person who wants to help you." 249 00:12:13,758 --> 00:12:16,689 Meeting somebody like Dana at an event that she has organized, 250 00:12:16,689 --> 00:12:19,000 this christening, that seems to be going well 251 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:20,689 would have added an extra layer 252 00:12:20,689 --> 00:12:23,379 to her credibility and her legitimacy. 253 00:12:23,379 --> 00:12:26,379 It might have let the guard down 254 00:12:26,379 --> 00:12:28,137 of the people that are there speaking to her 255 00:12:28,137 --> 00:12:29,827 because it's a family atmosphere, 256 00:12:29,827 --> 00:12:34,068 it's very different from a business or formal or corporate kind of setting. 257 00:12:35,655 --> 00:12:38,551 [Sam] After I met Dana in July, 258 00:12:38,551 --> 00:12:43,344 she then sent me an invoice to my email address 259 00:12:43,344 --> 00:12:46,172 with the full amount of the £1,500 260 00:12:46,172 --> 00:12:49,931 and then asked for a deposit of £600. 261 00:12:50,758 --> 00:12:53,103 She sent me a receipt through email 262 00:12:53,103 --> 00:12:57,413 when I had paid the deposit of £600 into her bank. 263 00:12:58,172 --> 00:13:00,137 When I paid Dana, 264 00:13:00,137 --> 00:13:04,793 it was around nine months to the day of wedding. 265 00:13:04,793 --> 00:13:08,551 I felt brilliant that it had been sorted. 266 00:13:08,551 --> 00:13:10,000 But I did feel a bit lost 267 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,172 and I remember texting Dana and asking her, 268 00:13:13,172 --> 00:13:15,275 "Is there anything I should be doing?" 269 00:13:15,275 --> 00:13:19,172 I felt like, although she had taken all the weight off my shoulders, 270 00:13:19,172 --> 00:13:20,689 I should have been doing more. 271 00:13:20,689 --> 00:13:22,310 And she replied and said, "No. 272 00:13:22,793 --> 00:13:24,689 All brides feel like this, 273 00:13:24,689 --> 00:13:27,724 and everything's in order and you got nothing to worry about." 274 00:13:34,379 --> 00:13:35,551 [Jason] It was three days before the wedding. 275 00:13:35,551 --> 00:13:37,586 It was a Thursday, in the morning. 276 00:13:37,586 --> 00:13:40,172 Nicky was still getting text messages from her. 277 00:13:41,896 --> 00:13:43,379 [Nicky] There was a gentleman called Gav, 278 00:13:43,379 --> 00:13:45,586 he was providing a marquee for us, 279 00:13:45,586 --> 00:13:47,000 who had messaged me 280 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,862 to say that Dana had actually cancelled the marquee. 281 00:13:49,862 --> 00:13:53,379 But she was getting it from somebody else instead. 282 00:13:53,379 --> 00:13:57,655 And she'd asked Gav to transfer the money into somebody else's account. 283 00:13:57,655 --> 00:14:00,586 I then phoned Dana and said "What's going on?" 284 00:14:00,586 --> 00:14:01,586 She said, "Don't worry about it. 285 00:14:01,586 --> 00:14:03,379 I just had to get it from someone else." 286 00:14:03,379 --> 00:14:05,896 She said that she'd organize it and it's absolutely fine. 287 00:14:05,896 --> 00:14:08,034 So I carried on with my mum and my aunty 288 00:14:08,034 --> 00:14:10,482 and my daughter and we all got our nails done. 289 00:14:10,482 --> 00:14:12,241 We all went to the venue together, 290 00:14:12,241 --> 00:14:15,655 so my mum, my aunty, myself, Jason, my children. 291 00:14:15,655 --> 00:14:18,896 We were hoping that Dana would already be there with her van, 292 00:14:18,896 --> 00:14:20,793 and her putting the marquee up, 293 00:14:20,793 --> 00:14:22,482 and the chairs and the tables. 294 00:14:24,034 --> 00:14:26,103 When we arrived at the venue, 295 00:14:26,103 --> 00:14:29,793 um, there was no van, there was no marquee, 296 00:14:29,793 --> 00:14:31,103 no nothing. 297 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,586 There was a car parked with a couple sitting in 298 00:14:34,586 --> 00:14:36,448 that we had never seen before. 299 00:14:36,448 --> 00:14:38,758 We assumed that one of them was Dana. 300 00:14:38,758 --> 00:14:41,241 They were the people that she had hired 301 00:14:41,241 --> 00:14:43,482 to come and fill the marquee 302 00:14:43,482 --> 00:14:45,344 to make it really, really special for us. 303 00:14:45,344 --> 00:14:47,068 And they were still none the wiser. 304 00:14:47,068 --> 00:14:49,413 So they assumed that she was gonna turn up as well. 305 00:14:50,172 --> 00:14:51,586 [Nicky] This is the worst bit. 306 00:14:51,586 --> 00:14:53,241 Dana had messaged me saying, 307 00:14:53,241 --> 00:14:55,137 "We're running late. Don't worry. 308 00:14:55,551 --> 00:14:56,793 We'll be there." 309 00:14:56,793 --> 00:14:59,034 And that was the last message I received from her. 310 00:14:59,034 --> 00:15:01,241 By lunchtime she hadn't turned up. 311 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,586 We kept ringing and it just ringed through. 312 00:15:05,586 --> 00:15:08,896 Then we thought it might be a problem with phone, so I rang 313 00:15:08,896 --> 00:15:10,896 and then somebody else rang. 314 00:15:10,896 --> 00:15:13,586 The couple that were there to put the marquee together, 315 00:15:13,586 --> 00:15:16,000 they rang. There was just no answer. 316 00:15:17,034 --> 00:15:18,344 It was surreal 317 00:15:18,344 --> 00:15:21,586 because there was somebody from Hull that had turned up 318 00:15:21,586 --> 00:15:25,068 um, and they were there to put all the decorations together. 319 00:15:25,068 --> 00:15:27,586 It was about 2:00 o'clock, 320 00:15:27,586 --> 00:15:30,103 we had to go to the church, 321 00:15:30,103 --> 00:15:31,827 to then do our rehearsals. 322 00:15:32,758 --> 00:15:35,379 "When we get back, she'd be setting up everything." 323 00:15:35,379 --> 00:15:36,724 We didn't know what had happened. 324 00:15:36,724 --> 00:15:38,379 We didn't know there was something wrong with her. 325 00:15:41,689 --> 00:15:42,586 We then left. 326 00:15:42,586 --> 00:15:44,586 We went to do the rehearsal. 327 00:15:44,586 --> 00:15:46,689 So it's in your mind. "What's going on?" 328 00:15:46,689 --> 00:15:48,379 Tried again to ring her, 329 00:15:48,379 --> 00:15:49,793 still no answer. 330 00:15:49,793 --> 00:15:52,000 Gav, who were gonna get the marquee from, 331 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:53,793 had put a up a post on Facebook, 332 00:15:53,793 --> 00:15:55,586 talking about Dana, saying, you know, 333 00:15:55,586 --> 00:15:58,241 "You can't do this to them. 334 00:15:58,241 --> 00:16:00,586 "It's going to be the wedding day. You've not turned up. 335 00:16:01,275 --> 00:16:02,931 You can't leave them like this." 336 00:16:09,793 --> 00:16:14,965 It was the morning of the 26 July, 2019. 337 00:16:14,965 --> 00:16:17,172 I was scrolling through Facebook 338 00:16:17,172 --> 00:16:18,758 and it pops up. 339 00:16:20,275 --> 00:16:24,793 A man who told Dana never to book a marquee with him again 340 00:16:24,793 --> 00:16:27,068 and he would never do business with her. 341 00:16:27,068 --> 00:16:31,068 I initially panicked, thinking, "I've booked a marquee. 342 00:16:31,068 --> 00:16:32,482 Is this the same person." 343 00:16:32,482 --> 00:16:35,000 When I went on his Facebook, 344 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,551 the photos of the marquee that she had sent me 345 00:16:38,551 --> 00:16:40,586 were of his Facebook. 346 00:16:40,586 --> 00:16:46,275 So I panicked, thinking, "I have got a marquee booked and he's now said 347 00:16:46,275 --> 00:16:48,000 that he'd never do business with her again." 348 00:16:49,793 --> 00:16:51,103 When I rang him, 349 00:16:51,103 --> 00:16:55,172 I explained to him who I was and the day of my wedding. 350 00:16:55,172 --> 00:16:57,379 And he said he had never heard of me 351 00:16:57,379 --> 00:17:01,793 and he has never said to Dana that he would do a favor for somebody 352 00:17:01,793 --> 00:17:04,000 whose mum was terminal. 353 00:17:05,448 --> 00:17:07,482 I was just panic stricken. 354 00:17:07,482 --> 00:17:09,275 I didn't really know what to do. 355 00:17:10,172 --> 00:17:13,551 I rang my best friend who met Dana with me 356 00:17:13,551 --> 00:17:16,586 and told her, and what she had said to me 357 00:17:16,586 --> 00:17:19,172 was just try and get in touch with Dana. 358 00:17:19,172 --> 00:17:21,103 It might just be a misunderstanding. 359 00:17:21,103 --> 00:17:23,275 I made an excuse to message her 360 00:17:23,275 --> 00:17:26,448 and asked her, "Do you know a videographer? 361 00:17:26,448 --> 00:17:28,862 'Cause it was one thing that I hadn't booked. 362 00:17:28,862 --> 00:17:32,000 And the message is still never being delivered. 363 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:34,793 I also tried to ring Dana's phone... 364 00:17:34,793 --> 00:17:37,689 and it just kept going to voicemail. 365 00:17:37,689 --> 00:17:39,137 [Phil] I was trying to calm her down. 366 00:17:39,137 --> 00:17:43,241 Just tried to reassure that whatever happens, we'll get married, 367 00:17:43,241 --> 00:17:45,655 and your mum will be there. 368 00:17:45,655 --> 00:17:49,000 Phil said to me that I needed to ring the police 369 00:17:49,275 --> 00:17:51,482 and ring my bank. 370 00:17:51,482 --> 00:17:54,655 The day that I found out was my mum's birthday. 371 00:17:54,655 --> 00:17:57,103 I was busy ringing the police 372 00:17:57,103 --> 00:17:59,586 and looking through Facebook 373 00:17:59,586 --> 00:18:02,620 rather than spending time with my mum. 374 00:18:10,379 --> 00:18:11,689 [Carl] We worked in the same building 375 00:18:11,689 --> 00:18:14,034 and the wedding supplier who makes cakes. 376 00:18:14,034 --> 00:18:16,137 The bride-to-be contacted the cakemaker 377 00:18:16,137 --> 00:18:18,793 expecting a wedding cake 378 00:18:18,793 --> 00:18:21,379 for a wedding which was the following day. 379 00:18:21,379 --> 00:18:23,586 But she didn't know anything about this 380 00:18:23,586 --> 00:18:25,344 and not had any payment for it. 381 00:18:25,344 --> 00:18:28,586 She was unable to get in touch with Dana 'cause her phone was switched off. 382 00:18:28,586 --> 00:18:31,000 So I tried phoning her and had the same response. 383 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,689 So I tried Messenger and her Facebook page disappeared. 384 00:18:34,689 --> 00:18:36,172 It was a massive shock. 385 00:18:38,172 --> 00:18:40,379 I was literally the next when the wedding is. 386 00:18:40,379 --> 00:18:44,000 Eventually I put on Dana's profile page 387 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:45,482 asking what's going on 388 00:18:45,482 --> 00:18:48,137 and if anybody else is having problems could you contact us 389 00:18:48,137 --> 00:18:50,034 and try and get it resolved. 390 00:18:50,034 --> 00:18:53,000 And then we got contacted by a few more people. 391 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,068 And that's when we realized there's a problem. 392 00:19:05,172 --> 00:19:06,758 Lots of people came forward 393 00:19:06,758 --> 00:19:09,000 saying that they had paid for the weddings 394 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:10,862 and she disappeared. 395 00:19:10,862 --> 00:19:13,482 So I set up a group on Facebook 396 00:19:13,482 --> 00:19:16,034 to try and help these people, to get them supplies 397 00:19:16,034 --> 00:19:17,103 and what have you. 398 00:19:17,896 --> 00:19:19,896 The amount of people that came forward, 399 00:19:19,896 --> 00:19:21,379 it was mind-blowing. 400 00:19:23,586 --> 00:19:26,000 [Alex] My name is Alex Grove and I'm a journalist. 401 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,000 I got a message from Carl Simpson 402 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,103 who was a local contact of mine. 403 00:19:31,103 --> 00:19:34,896 He made me aware of woman who had been scammed 404 00:19:34,896 --> 00:19:36,689 on the eve of her wedding. 405 00:19:36,689 --> 00:19:38,344 Initially, it was just one person. 406 00:19:38,344 --> 00:19:41,517 Then we discovered that another had also been scammed. 407 00:19:43,896 --> 00:19:46,379 We realized it was potentially a lot bigger story 408 00:19:46,379 --> 00:19:47,862 than just one person being scammed, 409 00:19:47,862 --> 00:19:50,310 and actually it turned out that there were dozens. 410 00:19:52,862 --> 00:19:56,344 When I started the group, I was expecting about six members 411 00:19:56,344 --> 00:19:59,482 We ended up with nearly a thousand members. 412 00:19:59,482 --> 00:20:01,793 It wasn't just couples getting married but were losing money. 413 00:20:01,793 --> 00:20:04,793 People that were supplying goods and stuff like that, 414 00:20:04,793 --> 00:20:06,000 also lost their money. 415 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,275 We lost about a £1,000 worth of cutlery and plates. 416 00:20:09,275 --> 00:20:11,689 All the people had bookings which were not fulfilled. 417 00:20:11,689 --> 00:20:13,275 And there was just panic. 418 00:20:13,275 --> 00:20:15,482 There's weddings the next day, there were weddings in three days, 419 00:20:15,482 --> 00:20:17,586 then wedding is on the following weekend. 420 00:20:17,586 --> 00:20:19,379 There was so many 421 00:20:19,379 --> 00:20:21,275 here there and everywhere, wasn't just in Hull. 422 00:20:21,275 --> 00:20:24,034 There's places booked where we could never have got catering 423 00:20:24,034 --> 00:20:26,275 because we weren't able to transfer food that far. 424 00:20:26,275 --> 00:20:28,758 It was just mass hysteria, that's all. 425 00:20:28,758 --> 00:20:30,000 So I was totally shocked. 426 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:33,241 We just did whatever we could to try and help. 427 00:20:34,896 --> 00:20:36,275 To see all these people, 428 00:20:36,275 --> 00:20:38,068 they were absolutely heartbroken, horrified. 429 00:20:38,689 --> 00:20:40,068 They had lost all the savings. 430 00:20:40,068 --> 00:20:41,137 So I was totally shocked. 431 00:20:41,137 --> 00:20:42,517 Didn't know which way to turn. 432 00:20:44,896 --> 00:20:46,379 Dana's customers would have felt 433 00:20:46,379 --> 00:20:50,000 that they had some kind of intimate relationship with her. 434 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,103 After all, they're letting her into one of the most important 435 00:20:53,103 --> 00:20:54,689 and personal parts of their lives, 436 00:20:54,689 --> 00:20:55,724 their weddings. 437 00:20:56,172 --> 00:20:58,275 Dana was fanning intimacy. 438 00:20:58,275 --> 00:21:00,896 She was fanning this emotional connection. 439 00:21:00,896 --> 00:21:03,655 And I think she did this so they'd keep their guard down. 440 00:21:03,655 --> 00:21:06,275 And it's quite disturbing to think that this whole time 441 00:21:06,275 --> 00:21:08,379 she was pretending to be personable, 442 00:21:08,379 --> 00:21:11,379 but really she was seeing them as cash cows. 443 00:21:11,379 --> 00:21:14,793 Some of Dana's personality traits and characteristics 444 00:21:14,793 --> 00:21:17,068 are similar to those of psychopaths. 445 00:21:17,068 --> 00:21:19,586 So not only is there this massive lack of empathy, 446 00:21:19,586 --> 00:21:23,103 but psychopaths generally are quite charming and manipulative. 447 00:21:23,103 --> 00:21:27,000 In fact, I would say that most psychopaths lie to some degree. 448 00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:29,034 they use their personalities 449 00:21:29,034 --> 00:21:31,413 so that they can manipulate people around them. 450 00:21:32,862 --> 00:21:36,551 [Sam] The Facebook group became sort of a, bit like, support group, really. 451 00:21:36,551 --> 00:21:40,689 The people asking if anybody knew who could do the flowers, 452 00:21:40,689 --> 00:21:43,000 who could do the car or their cake. 453 00:21:43,000 --> 00:21:49,275 Then that's when the volume of how many people she ripped off 454 00:21:49,275 --> 00:21:50,413 came through. 455 00:21:50,965 --> 00:21:55,000 I was mad. I was angry. I was upset. 456 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:59,241 I can't even explain how mad and upset I was. 457 00:21:59,241 --> 00:22:01,034 Nobody had heard from Dana, 458 00:22:01,034 --> 00:22:02,862 and that's when I knew, 459 00:22:02,862 --> 00:22:05,931 she disappeared with my money. 460 00:22:24,896 --> 00:22:26,379 [Alex] Dana was nowhere to be seen. 461 00:22:26,379 --> 00:22:29,000 She disappeared off the face of the earth. 462 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,586 People were frustrated and they wanted answers. 463 00:22:32,586 --> 00:22:36,000 There were dozens of people that claimed that they had been scammed by Dana. 464 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,000 All of these people wanted justice. 465 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:41,896 [Nicky] I had a lot of people message me 466 00:22:41,896 --> 00:22:46,724 who had seen quite a lot of negative stuff about Dana on Facebook as well. 467 00:22:47,586 --> 00:22:49,586 They had booked a wedding with her, 468 00:22:49,586 --> 00:22:54,137 and the most important thing for me was obviously getting married to Jason. 469 00:22:55,172 --> 00:22:56,103 [Jason] It was shocking. 470 00:22:56,103 --> 00:22:57,586 We've got a wedding in two days. 471 00:22:57,586 --> 00:23:00,448 We've got a hundred people turning up for the wedding 472 00:23:00,448 --> 00:23:01,931 but we don't have a venue as yet. 473 00:23:09,965 --> 00:23:13,000 Dana would have seen her victims as prey all along. 474 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:15,586 The people who were getting married would have been quite stressed 475 00:23:15,586 --> 00:23:17,551 and quite excited about their wedding day. 476 00:23:17,551 --> 00:23:19,482 So they would have been distracted. 477 00:23:19,482 --> 00:23:21,448 This would have allowed Dana 478 00:23:21,448 --> 00:23:23,758 to continue extracting money from them 479 00:23:23,758 --> 00:23:26,103 and give her the opportunity to escape 480 00:23:26,103 --> 00:23:28,379 without them even really paying her attention. 481 00:23:30,172 --> 00:23:32,793 [Nicky] I can only describe like the next 482 00:23:32,793 --> 00:23:36,689 couple of hours of all days. It was just being like a blur. 483 00:23:36,689 --> 00:23:37,655 Numb. 484 00:23:37,655 --> 00:23:40,000 I didn't know where to go, what to do, 485 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:41,655 where to go next, 486 00:23:41,655 --> 00:23:43,137 who to speak to. 487 00:23:43,137 --> 00:23:45,724 I was angry. I was hurt. I was upset. 488 00:23:51,655 --> 00:23:55,379 Usually when people suffer an acute and unexpected trauma, 489 00:23:55,379 --> 00:23:57,517 there's a whole range of emotions. 490 00:23:59,172 --> 00:24:02,586 Initially, there's this state of disbelief or being overwhelmed. 491 00:24:02,586 --> 00:24:04,379 And once that's passed, 492 00:24:04,379 --> 00:24:06,379 there can be lots of different emotions, 493 00:24:06,379 --> 00:24:09,000 from anxiety, depression, 494 00:24:09,689 --> 00:24:11,586 anger, frustration. 495 00:24:11,586 --> 00:24:14,000 Sometimes, people isolate themselves a little bit 496 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:15,655 and they could be quite withdrawn. 497 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:21,000 [Jason] The realism, when it kicked in was, "No. It can't be. 498 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,379 She wouldn't do that to us." 499 00:24:22,379 --> 00:24:24,103 Especially two days before your wedding. 500 00:24:24,103 --> 00:24:25,655 That was the hard bit. 501 00:24:25,655 --> 00:24:28,034 Hoping the following day we're gonna get a phone call 502 00:24:28,034 --> 00:24:29,965 saying, "Oh, we turned up. We did our work through the night. 503 00:24:29,965 --> 00:24:31,034 Everything is great." 504 00:24:33,896 --> 00:24:36,448 Nicky was still understandably concerned 505 00:24:36,448 --> 00:24:38,965 three days before this marquee wasn't there, 506 00:24:38,965 --> 00:24:41,172 and Dana still wasn't picking up her phone. 507 00:24:41,172 --> 00:24:43,620 She wasn't answering phone-calls. 508 00:24:47,482 --> 00:24:50,793 Until the day before, I still thought she'd turn up, 509 00:24:50,793 --> 00:24:52,793 and I think that's just my good nature. 510 00:24:52,793 --> 00:24:56,103 I think I was just being naive to realize 511 00:24:56,896 --> 00:25:00,172 that how someone could do that to somebody, 512 00:25:00,172 --> 00:25:01,517 and how I fell for it. 513 00:25:02,482 --> 00:25:04,655 [Phil] Felt a fool of myself. I'd been suckered 514 00:25:04,655 --> 00:25:07,137 by somebody who was very clever. 515 00:25:08,586 --> 00:25:12,172 A lot of these women were left feeling embarrassed and humiliated 516 00:25:12,172 --> 00:25:13,482 by what had happened, 517 00:25:13,482 --> 00:25:16,206 and that they got sucked in and duped in by this lie. 518 00:25:30,482 --> 00:25:31,724 [Jason] One of our friends... 519 00:25:32,103 --> 00:25:34,896 had informed Stray FM. 520 00:25:34,896 --> 00:25:36,965 And Stray FM rang us and said, 521 00:25:36,965 --> 00:25:38,965 "We wanna put this out to everybody 522 00:25:38,965 --> 00:25:40,620 to get you some support and some help." 523 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,379 There were so many people that came forward, 524 00:25:44,379 --> 00:25:46,655 who volunteered to help us. 525 00:25:46,655 --> 00:25:48,724 It was just unreal. 526 00:25:49,551 --> 00:25:52,379 The Church then offered us their room. 527 00:25:52,379 --> 00:25:56,379 As I said to Nicky, "Do you know what, we've got the church, 528 00:25:56,379 --> 00:25:58,482 we've got all these people turning up. 529 00:25:58,482 --> 00:26:00,379 If we have to get married, we will still get married, 530 00:26:00,379 --> 00:26:04,379 and if I have to sit in the middle of the church yard 531 00:26:04,379 --> 00:26:05,896 and have pizza, 532 00:26:05,896 --> 00:26:07,827 I don't care. That's how we're gonna get married." 533 00:26:08,482 --> 00:26:10,034 We then had to repurchase, 534 00:26:10,034 --> 00:26:13,137 re-get another venue for the daytime. 535 00:26:13,137 --> 00:26:15,172 Nighttime, we got the venue for free 536 00:26:15,172 --> 00:26:18,379 but we still had to pay for the food and set ups and everything. 537 00:26:18,379 --> 00:26:21,137 In total, it was about £6,700. 538 00:26:27,068 --> 00:26:29,379 What she did prior to our wedding 539 00:26:29,379 --> 00:26:30,931 was unquestionably despicable. 540 00:26:32,034 --> 00:26:34,655 There's no words that we can say. 541 00:26:34,655 --> 00:26:37,689 However she didn't ruin my wedding day. 542 00:26:37,689 --> 00:26:40,137 We made the best of the situation. 543 00:26:42,793 --> 00:26:46,689 We were having a laugh and a joke at the front of the alter with everybody, 544 00:26:46,689 --> 00:26:48,310 just trynna keep the spirits high. 545 00:26:49,689 --> 00:26:52,000 [Nicky] There was a lot of marquee jokes in the speeches. 546 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:54,241 You know, and everyone is brilliant. 547 00:26:54,241 --> 00:26:56,517 And the day couldn't have gone any better. 548 00:26:58,896 --> 00:27:01,689 We know that Dana was a good wedding planner. 549 00:27:01,689 --> 00:27:04,965 Initially, she actually provided a good service to her customers, 550 00:27:04,965 --> 00:27:08,620 but at some point she made the decision to start scamming them. 551 00:27:09,275 --> 00:27:10,689 Was it premeditated? 552 00:27:10,689 --> 00:27:12,275 Or perhaps, it was opportunistic. 553 00:27:12,275 --> 00:27:14,172 Perhaps, at some point she saw 554 00:27:14,172 --> 00:27:16,758 that there was a way that she could extract this money 555 00:27:16,758 --> 00:27:18,724 without actually doing any of the work. 556 00:27:21,379 --> 00:27:23,379 [Nicky] I was annoyed at myself. 557 00:27:23,379 --> 00:27:26,896 You just feel stupid for trusting somebody. 558 00:27:26,896 --> 00:27:30,172 And in all honesty, I really thought that she would turn up 559 00:27:30,172 --> 00:27:31,241 if I just waited. 560 00:27:31,241 --> 00:27:32,827 She wouldn't do it. 561 00:27:33,482 --> 00:27:34,517 She wouldn't let me down. 562 00:27:36,793 --> 00:27:38,482 [Dr. Sohom] Dana is an established actor 563 00:27:38,482 --> 00:27:40,172 and an establish liar. 564 00:27:40,172 --> 00:27:43,275 We see this by the way she's able to gain trust 565 00:27:43,275 --> 00:27:44,793 in her victims. 566 00:27:44,793 --> 00:27:49,103 She shows them affection, she uses kisses and emojis in her messages. 567 00:27:49,103 --> 00:27:50,482 So to them, 568 00:27:50,482 --> 00:27:52,241 there's a personal connection. 569 00:27:52,241 --> 00:27:55,413 She's not just some separate businesswoman. 570 00:27:58,241 --> 00:28:01,034 [Carl] At one point I felt guilty for what had happened 571 00:28:01,034 --> 00:28:03,758 because I felt like we had helped her get away with this. 572 00:28:03,758 --> 00:28:06,000 'Cause she was using our pictures and all of that lot. 573 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:08,758 When you find out that she's used you 574 00:28:08,758 --> 00:28:10,551 to scam people. 575 00:28:10,551 --> 00:28:12,586 It's so easy that people can get sucked into this. 576 00:28:15,344 --> 00:28:17,896 [Sam] When I called the police and explained to them, 577 00:28:17,896 --> 00:28:19,034 they said to me 578 00:28:19,034 --> 00:28:22,689 it hadn't been past my wedding day 579 00:28:23,448 --> 00:28:25,896 so I couldn't prove that actually 580 00:28:25,896 --> 00:28:28,620 she disappeared with my money. 581 00:28:34,586 --> 00:28:36,862 Dana's name was being battered about 582 00:28:36,862 --> 00:28:40,551 and everyone who had the Twidale surname 583 00:28:40,551 --> 00:28:43,413 was being associated with what she was doing. 584 00:28:44,068 --> 00:28:46,034 Carl was technically her husband 585 00:28:46,034 --> 00:28:48,551 but they had been estranged for a long time. 586 00:28:48,551 --> 00:28:51,068 However, that didn't stop people from targeting him 587 00:28:51,068 --> 00:28:53,965 and assuming that he was in on all the scams. 588 00:28:53,965 --> 00:28:55,586 I wanted to help Carl 589 00:28:55,586 --> 00:28:58,655 to make sure everyone knew that he had nothing to do 590 00:28:58,655 --> 00:28:59,827 with what Dana was doing. 591 00:29:00,379 --> 00:29:02,000 He was getting sent death threats 592 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:06,000 and he claims that actually she'd also scammed him out of money. 593 00:29:07,275 --> 00:29:08,862 They were living in separate houses 594 00:29:08,862 --> 00:29:11,689 and he was in the process of trying to divorce her. 595 00:29:11,689 --> 00:29:14,275 He was mortified by what had happened. 596 00:29:14,275 --> 00:29:16,482 He felt incredibly remorseful. 597 00:29:16,482 --> 00:29:20,793 A line he actually he used to me was, "She should be thrown to the wolves." 598 00:29:20,793 --> 00:29:24,517 Which kinda gets across just how strongly he felt about her. 599 00:29:26,448 --> 00:29:28,586 [Dr. Sohom] After their marriage breaks down, 600 00:29:28,586 --> 00:29:31,689 carl tries to end it formally by sending her divorce papers. 601 00:29:31,689 --> 00:29:34,965 And what's interesting is that Dana seems to completely ignore this. 602 00:29:34,965 --> 00:29:36,172 She is indifferent. 603 00:29:36,172 --> 00:29:39,344 To me this shows a massive irresponsibility. 604 00:29:39,344 --> 00:29:41,655 And that's interesting because that's another criteria 605 00:29:41,655 --> 00:29:43,275 for being clinical psychopath. 606 00:29:50,586 --> 00:29:52,689 [Angela Ayliffe] When I initially heard about Dana Twidale, 607 00:29:52,689 --> 00:29:55,379 she'd been working as a wedding planner 608 00:29:55,379 --> 00:29:58,275 and allegedly organized weddings, 609 00:29:58,275 --> 00:30:02,586 but not carried out the services that she promised. 610 00:30:02,586 --> 00:30:05,068 As more and more reports came in, 611 00:30:05,068 --> 00:30:08,379 it was obvious that she deliberately offered services 612 00:30:08,379 --> 00:30:11,482 that she was never ever gonna fulfill. 613 00:30:11,482 --> 00:30:13,931 So then, it is a fraud. 614 00:30:15,241 --> 00:30:20,758 It transpired that she had organized weddings in Wales, 615 00:30:20,758 --> 00:30:23,379 down south, all over the country, 616 00:30:23,379 --> 00:30:26,172 and she was promising to be in two places at once. 617 00:30:26,172 --> 00:30:30,068 It was decided that Homicide would take any jobs 618 00:30:30,068 --> 00:30:32,655 in relation to Dana Twidale. 619 00:30:32,655 --> 00:30:34,448 And we would put 'em all as one case 620 00:30:34,448 --> 00:30:36,034 to submit to the CPS. 621 00:30:36,034 --> 00:30:39,103 When I got Dana's financial records, 622 00:30:39,103 --> 00:30:42,172 I could see that there was money coming in from the victim 623 00:30:42,172 --> 00:30:44,000 and I could see money going out, 624 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:47,103 but it wasn't going to where she said it was going, 625 00:30:47,103 --> 00:30:52,310 and it wasn't paying for things in respect to the wedding. 626 00:30:56,137 --> 00:30:59,344 I screenshotted her profile photo 627 00:30:59,344 --> 00:31:05,310 and put it on my Facebook page asking if anybody knew where she was. 628 00:31:06,896 --> 00:31:09,379 Because I met her husband on the day she was dressing the christening, 629 00:31:11,034 --> 00:31:15,103 I knew where he worked so I went to go and see him, 630 00:31:15,103 --> 00:31:19,103 to ask him if he knew anything about her whereabouts. 631 00:31:19,103 --> 00:31:20,275 And he hadn't seen her. 632 00:31:20,275 --> 00:31:23,517 He just said that he didn't know where she was. 633 00:31:24,068 --> 00:31:26,758 That day, originally, I thought 634 00:31:26,758 --> 00:31:30,275 I've met her with her husband who was singing her praises 635 00:31:30,275 --> 00:31:34,068 of how wonderful she'd been at other people's weddings 636 00:31:34,068 --> 00:31:35,586 and he was helping her with the christening. 637 00:31:35,586 --> 00:31:41,482 I originally thought that both pulled the world over my eyes. 638 00:31:41,482 --> 00:31:44,586 So that's why I went to go and see him as well. 639 00:31:44,586 --> 00:31:48,034 And I could see straightaway by his face 640 00:31:48,034 --> 00:31:51,275 that he had no idea what was going on. 641 00:31:55,275 --> 00:31:58,068 After leaving Nicky and Jason in the lurch, 642 00:31:58,068 --> 00:32:00,689 Danna then decides to run away. 643 00:32:00,689 --> 00:32:03,655 It shows that she was impulsive and irresponsible. 644 00:32:03,655 --> 00:32:06,620 Again, these are typical features of a psychopath. 645 00:32:08,137 --> 00:32:11,000 [Angela] By July, 2019, 646 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:15,000 Dana's life was coming crashing down around her shoulders. 647 00:32:15,689 --> 00:32:17,965 She had got numerous weddings booked, 648 00:32:17,965 --> 00:32:20,103 none of the services had been booked. 649 00:32:20,103 --> 00:32:22,482 Some of the weddings were booked on the same day. 650 00:32:22,482 --> 00:32:25,793 She was reported as missing by her ex-husband 651 00:32:25,793 --> 00:32:28,586 and a photo circulated 652 00:32:28,586 --> 00:32:32,931 on Facebook of Dana on the beach, abroad. 653 00:32:48,724 --> 00:32:52,758 [Alex] Weeks were passing, Dana was nowhere to be seen. 654 00:32:52,758 --> 00:32:55,965 There were dozens of people that claimed that they had been scammed by Dana 655 00:32:55,965 --> 00:32:58,413 and all of these people wanted justice. 656 00:32:58,413 --> 00:33:00,448 There was very little the police could do 657 00:33:00,448 --> 00:33:02,655 'cause just no one knew where she was. 658 00:33:04,068 --> 00:33:07,724 Things suddenly changed when a picture of her appeared. 659 00:33:08,896 --> 00:33:11,965 A photo circulated from somebody 660 00:33:11,965 --> 00:33:13,482 who was on holiday in Benidorm. 661 00:33:13,482 --> 00:33:15,862 They had seen the pictures on the Facebook, 662 00:33:15,862 --> 00:33:18,137 and said, "She's staying in this hotel." 663 00:33:19,551 --> 00:33:21,965 [Alex] She has a very distinctive tattoo on her back 664 00:33:21,965 --> 00:33:23,310 which gave her away. 665 00:33:23,310 --> 00:33:27,275 And immediately signified that it was her. 666 00:33:27,275 --> 00:33:30,896 Her ex-husband got a photo sent of her sitting by the pool. 667 00:33:30,896 --> 00:33:33,206 You could see that it was her with all her tattoos. 668 00:33:33,206 --> 00:33:35,620 How did she rip people off like that 669 00:33:35,620 --> 00:33:39,275 and then go and swan off and sit by a pool drinking cocktails? 670 00:33:39,793 --> 00:33:41,620 On everybody else's money. 671 00:33:41,620 --> 00:33:45,620 My feelings was that she's a disgusting human. 672 00:33:45,620 --> 00:33:47,034 [Jason] Even while she was texting us, 673 00:33:47,034 --> 00:33:49,482 she was in Benidorm 674 00:33:49,482 --> 00:33:53,172 having a holiday, spending our money and everybody else's money. 675 00:33:54,344 --> 00:33:56,172 [Nicky] We almost felt embarrassed 676 00:33:56,172 --> 00:34:00,620 that we're working overtime to pay back the money that we owe to people 677 00:34:00,620 --> 00:34:02,482 and she's in Benidorm by the poolside. 678 00:34:02,482 --> 00:34:06,482 And we're stuck here, dealing with the mess that she's left behind. 679 00:34:06,482 --> 00:34:08,206 We couldn't even afford to go on a honeymoon. 680 00:34:11,482 --> 00:34:15,103 We knew she was abroad and the inquiries were made 681 00:34:15,103 --> 00:34:20,275 to see when she'll be coming back into the country. 682 00:34:20,275 --> 00:34:23,758 Police believed that Dana was gonna return to the UK 683 00:34:23,758 --> 00:34:27,275 because she was staying in a hotel. 684 00:34:27,275 --> 00:34:30,586 It was put on the national computer that if she landed anywhere 685 00:34:30,586 --> 00:34:31,965 and the airports were aware. 686 00:34:31,965 --> 00:34:34,758 So that we knew as soon as she entered the country, 687 00:34:34,758 --> 00:34:36,241 she would be detained. 688 00:34:49,448 --> 00:34:52,689 Dana was subsequently detained at the airport 689 00:34:52,689 --> 00:34:55,620 and she was brought into custody, into Hull. 690 00:34:57,206 --> 00:34:59,793 [Alex] She was arrested shortly after her arrival. 691 00:34:59,793 --> 00:35:01,172 They interviewed her. 692 00:35:01,172 --> 00:35:04,000 Wanted to speak to her about the allegations she was facing. 693 00:35:09,689 --> 00:35:11,448 She didn't admit 694 00:35:11,448 --> 00:35:16,206 that she had taken the money with no intention of fulfilling the services. 695 00:35:16,206 --> 00:35:20,827 Initially, she was saying that," I intended to do the weddings." 696 00:35:25,965 --> 00:35:29,689 I think I was even more mad when I found out that she denied everything. 697 00:35:29,689 --> 00:35:30,896 Then, when I found out... 698 00:35:30,896 --> 00:35:32,896 She was being caught red-handed. 699 00:35:32,896 --> 00:35:36,931 I had all the proofs on the scale that she had done it. 700 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,931 So then try and lie again? 701 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,206 [Alex] She was then released on police bail. 702 00:35:45,206 --> 00:35:49,000 During that time, it's thought that she managed to pick up some more jobs in Hull, 703 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,482 and there were reported sightings of her in takeaways 704 00:35:52,482 --> 00:35:54,034 in and around the city. 705 00:35:54,034 --> 00:35:57,793 People couldn't understand how she was still free 706 00:35:57,793 --> 00:36:00,896 and able to collect money and work 707 00:36:00,896 --> 00:36:06,137 when she was accused of all these horrific crimes against people. 708 00:36:06,137 --> 00:36:08,275 [Dr. Sohom] When Dana came back from Spain, 709 00:36:08,275 --> 00:36:10,517 she continued to work in Hull, 710 00:36:10,517 --> 00:36:12,172 and she did this quite openly. 711 00:36:12,172 --> 00:36:15,724 People saw her working there and some people were angry at her presence. 712 00:36:15,724 --> 00:36:18,000 She seemed completely indifferent to this. 713 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:21,034 I think this really speaks to her personality. 714 00:36:21,034 --> 00:36:24,000 People from all across the country had been duped in by Dana. 715 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:28,310 A lot of these women were left feeling embarrassed and humiliated. 716 00:36:28,310 --> 00:36:31,137 She managed o fleece at least 20 couples 717 00:36:31,137 --> 00:36:33,689 out of over £15,000. 718 00:36:33,689 --> 00:36:35,310 That's what we know about. 719 00:36:35,310 --> 00:36:39,103 But there's the potential that she may have allegedly scammed even more. 720 00:36:39,103 --> 00:36:41,689 [Angela] Dana ruined people's lives. 721 00:36:41,689 --> 00:36:46,172 What might not be a huge amount of money to some people, 722 00:36:46,172 --> 00:36:48,793 to those individual people, 723 00:36:48,793 --> 00:36:50,275 it was money that they didn't have. 724 00:36:53,172 --> 00:36:56,517 Generally speaking, psychopaths make excellent con artists. 725 00:36:56,517 --> 00:36:59,620 Not only do they have that core lack of empathy, 726 00:36:59,620 --> 00:37:00,827 but on top of that, 727 00:37:00,827 --> 00:37:03,379 they tend to be very charming, very manipulative, 728 00:37:03,379 --> 00:37:04,517 very deceitful, 729 00:37:04,517 --> 00:37:05,896 which makes them extra dangerous 730 00:37:05,896 --> 00:37:07,620 'cause they're very hard to spot. 731 00:37:08,034 --> 00:37:09,310 At their very core, 732 00:37:09,310 --> 00:37:11,137 al psychopaths lack empathy 733 00:37:11,137 --> 00:37:13,379 and they're very good at manipulating others, 734 00:37:13,379 --> 00:37:16,551 and they see everybody, even their close friends and family 735 00:37:16,551 --> 00:37:20,344 as victims, as people that they can potentially exploit. 736 00:37:23,241 --> 00:37:25,620 [Angela] We've got a good case against Dana. 737 00:37:25,620 --> 00:37:28,862 As well as the wedding planning fraud, 738 00:37:28,862 --> 00:37:32,275 there had been previous allegations earlier on 739 00:37:32,275 --> 00:37:34,034 when she was a lot younger. 740 00:37:34,034 --> 00:37:39,034 I found two incidents back in '98 and '99. 741 00:37:39,034 --> 00:37:44,137 There were allegations that Dana had scammed two males 742 00:37:44,137 --> 00:37:46,482 who she'd been in a relationship with. 743 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:49,000 She also was involved 744 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:53,241 in what the press office term is a "Romance fraud." 745 00:37:54,862 --> 00:37:56,413 [Alex] Dana loved to use Tinder 746 00:37:56,413 --> 00:37:58,137 as a way of scamming people. 747 00:37:58,137 --> 00:38:03,793 One of the most high-profile and really sad cases was a vulnerable man 748 00:38:03,793 --> 00:38:05,620 who had just lost his mother. 749 00:38:05,620 --> 00:38:10,551 Dana claimed that she was escaping an abusive relationships 750 00:38:10,551 --> 00:38:13,896 and that she needed money to get away from her violent ex. 751 00:38:13,896 --> 00:38:16,965 He was a very caring man and was happy to give her the money 752 00:38:16,965 --> 00:38:20,862 so that she could get away and start a new life for herself. 753 00:38:20,862 --> 00:38:24,724 She had absolutely no interest in him, romantically, 754 00:38:24,724 --> 00:38:28,482 and she was just there to try and scam him out of as much money as she could. 755 00:38:28,482 --> 00:38:31,586 She manage to steal £40,000 from him, 756 00:38:31,586 --> 00:38:34,172 and it had a huge effect on him. 757 00:38:35,586 --> 00:38:38,482 The way that these people manipulate 758 00:38:38,896 --> 00:38:41,137 is so real 759 00:38:41,137 --> 00:38:44,103 that you couldn't believe that you're in a relationship. 760 00:38:47,103 --> 00:38:49,241 [Dr. Sohom] One of the key things that really stands out to me 761 00:38:49,241 --> 00:38:52,103 is that Dana has a parasitic lifestyle. 762 00:38:52,103 --> 00:38:55,206 She's got this pattern of leaching off vulnerable people. 763 00:38:58,482 --> 00:39:00,896 [Angela] Between the first interview 764 00:39:00,896 --> 00:39:01,862 and a second interview, 765 00:39:01,862 --> 00:39:06,206 we had a total of 27 victims. 766 00:39:06,206 --> 00:39:08,068 She said that she needed the money 767 00:39:08,068 --> 00:39:11,586 'cause she was... In the second interview, because she had been gambling. 768 00:39:11,586 --> 00:39:14,241 She said that she got into a vicious circle. 769 00:39:14,241 --> 00:39:18,103 But I still don't believe that she had any intention at all, 770 00:39:18,103 --> 00:39:21,379 otherwise she wouldn't have been booking them for the same day. 771 00:39:21,379 --> 00:39:24,482 The evidence that we had overwhelming. 772 00:39:24,482 --> 00:39:29,000 We had got multiple people, all saying the same thing. 773 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:44,103 Dana pleaded guilty on her first appearance at court. 774 00:39:48,379 --> 00:39:50,620 When we finally went to court, 775 00:39:50,620 --> 00:39:54,931 I read out my victim impulse statement. 776 00:39:55,620 --> 00:39:58,206 I said how it made me feel 777 00:39:58,206 --> 00:40:01,103 that Dana would use my mum's illness 778 00:40:01,103 --> 00:40:03,517 to receive gains from me. 779 00:40:03,517 --> 00:40:08,137 And then we heard how sorry Dana was for what she'd done. 780 00:40:08,793 --> 00:40:10,344 She never looked up once. 781 00:40:10,344 --> 00:40:11,896 She looked down at the floor. 782 00:40:11,896 --> 00:40:14,000 And if she was really sorry, 783 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:16,344 then when she was caught first 784 00:40:16,344 --> 00:40:19,241 she would have admitted it, wouldn't she? 785 00:40:19,241 --> 00:40:22,758 It was really hard to sit there across from somebody 786 00:40:23,724 --> 00:40:28,068 that had done something so bad 787 00:40:28,068 --> 00:40:30,586 and somebody that you thought you could trust. 788 00:40:30,586 --> 00:40:34,758 We just found out more and more stuff that she had just lied about. 789 00:40:37,137 --> 00:40:39,241 [Jason] The hardest thing was the fact 790 00:40:39,241 --> 00:40:41,482 that every time something was mentioned 791 00:40:41,482 --> 00:40:44,034 she was looking across at all of us 792 00:40:44,034 --> 00:40:45,344 and she was smirking 793 00:40:46,000 --> 00:40:48,758 as if it was just a game to her. 794 00:40:49,758 --> 00:40:53,172 And why would somebody that wants to make your day, 795 00:40:53,172 --> 00:40:55,137 the most special day in the world, 796 00:40:55,137 --> 00:40:57,724 actually be as cruel as what she was? 797 00:40:57,724 --> 00:41:01,068 And then to sit there in the courtroom and smile at Nikki 798 00:41:01,068 --> 00:41:02,344 was despicable. 799 00:41:06,586 --> 00:41:08,000 [Alex] When Dana was sentenced, 800 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,241 it came to lights that she managed to scam people 801 00:41:11,241 --> 00:41:13,344 out of a total of £60,000. 802 00:41:13,344 --> 00:41:17,206 She only had £600 in her account. 803 00:41:17,206 --> 00:41:18,620 People were infuriated. 804 00:41:18,620 --> 00:41:21,413 She clearly didn't have the means to be able to repay 805 00:41:21,413 --> 00:41:22,862 what she had scammed out of people. 806 00:41:25,793 --> 00:41:27,241 Dana was given five years 807 00:41:27,241 --> 00:41:30,965 and that was the toughest sentence that the judge could impose. 808 00:41:30,965 --> 00:41:33,586 [Jason] I honestly believe that the five years that she was given 809 00:41:33,586 --> 00:41:38,068 was probably the best outcome that we could ever ask for. 810 00:41:39,655 --> 00:41:42,310 [Sam] I was shocked at how little she got 811 00:41:42,310 --> 00:41:45,137 for the amount of money that she'd swindled out of people. 812 00:41:45,137 --> 00:41:47,310 She has done this sort of thing before, 813 00:41:47,310 --> 00:41:49,344 I think she'll do something else. 814 00:41:49,344 --> 00:41:50,896 [Phil] What made it worse for us 815 00:41:50,896 --> 00:41:54,275 was the fact that Sam's mum was dying. 816 00:41:54,275 --> 00:41:57,103 It played on that Sam was vulnerable. 817 00:41:57,103 --> 00:41:58,793 I was probably at the most vulnerable point 818 00:41:58,793 --> 00:42:00,931 -in my life that I've ever been. -Yeah. 819 00:42:04,241 --> 00:42:05,965 If she was let loose, 820 00:42:05,965 --> 00:42:10,068 and she was allowed to set up another social media website, 821 00:42:10,068 --> 00:42:11,517 she'd be doing it again. 822 00:42:14,758 --> 00:42:18,931 [Sam] My mum passed away on the 30th October, 2019. 823 00:42:22,551 --> 00:42:25,034 And we finally got married 824 00:42:25,034 --> 00:42:28,448 on the 15th October, 2021. 825 00:42:28,448 --> 00:42:31,068 Although the wedding was perfect, 826 00:42:31,068 --> 00:42:35,344 I think it'll always be tinged with a little bit of sadness 827 00:42:35,344 --> 00:42:38,620 and anger towards Dana. 828 00:42:44,241 --> 00:42:46,620 [Angela] If you're operating on Facebook 829 00:42:46,620 --> 00:42:49,344 and you're not delivering the services as promised, 830 00:42:49,344 --> 00:42:52,793 then you are gonna be brought before the courts. 831 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,310 I think I've grown up a little bit since that time. 832 00:42:58,310 --> 00:43:00,758 Maybe a better judge of character. 833 00:43:00,758 --> 00:43:03,482 maybe, not to find somebody on the Facebook. 834 00:43:03,482 --> 00:43:06,448 [Jason] Thankfully to everybody helping us on that day, 835 00:43:06,448 --> 00:43:08,344 we got the venues that we needed. 836 00:43:08,344 --> 00:43:09,862 It was at a cost 837 00:43:09,862 --> 00:43:13,034 but there were so many genuine people out there that helped us. 838 00:43:13,034 --> 00:43:15,896 [Sam] A lot of nice people came forward, didn't they, 839 00:43:15,896 --> 00:43:17,896 when i got my dress formed. 840 00:43:17,896 --> 00:43:19,586 People really pulled together 841 00:43:19,586 --> 00:43:21,896 to show that there's actually nice people out there.