This is the woman who claimed to be related to Steven Gerrard to swindle a disabled man out of £3,000 by offering him bogus shares in Facebook and Liverpool FC tickets.
Laura Mason, 29, used the name Louise Gerrard to suggest she was a family member of the Anfield legend as part of a “wicked fraud”.
Mason sobbed as Liverpool Crown Court heard how she led the vulnerable 51-year-old, who has a brain injury, to believe they were developing a “sexual and loving relationship”.
But Judge Denis Watson, QC, told the convicted benefit cheat: “I’m not impressed – pull yourself together” before jailing her for eight months.
Mason, of Lobelia Avenue, Walton, said she did not know at first that the her victim was struggling to cope with a serious head injury suffered in the 1980s.
However, Judge Watson said: “Once you began to speak to him you would have become aware of his vulnerability. But you had your claws into him by then.”
Mason told him she was related to the former Reds captain after seeing that he was a Liverpool fan and offered tickets in return for cash. He made 28 payments totalling £2,905.
Mason even arranged for the pair to meet at a pub in Southport, but she did not turn up.
Anya Horwood, prosecuting, said: “He was investing not only his finances but his emotional attachment.”
Mason, with red hair and glasses and wearing a black cardigan in the dock, admitted fraud.
She was previously sentenced to a community order for benefit fraud in December 2013.
Charlotte Pringle, defending, said her client knew the offence was “completely disgraceful”.
Judge Watson said: “You played on the names of people associated to Liverpool FC to lend an air of authenticity to the claims that there would be match tickets available.
“This was a particularly wicked offence of fraud, hot on the heels of a community order for benefit fraud.”
Mason wept as she was jailed and told to pay £300 in compensation.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/