This is the moment Lyne Barlow brazenly walked into police custody whilst claiming to have cancer.
Wearing a headscarf and mask, and walking with the aid of a walking stick, the holiday fraudster - who was jailed on Friday - looks frail and unwell. But her cancer claims were a cruel lie, and the 39-year-old - who carried out a scam believed to be around £1.2m - was completely fine.
Barlow had even fooled her friends and close family into believing she was seriously ill, even taking the drastic step of cutting her own hair and leaving it on her bed to make people believe it was falling out. Some family members even dropped her off at hospital, believing she was going for appointments and treatment.
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But when Barlow, who said she was undergoing treatment for stage 3/4 cancer - was brought into custody in September 2020, officers were stunned when she removed her headscarf to reveal a full head of thick hair. Later, she admitted she did not have cancer and that it was all a lie.
Barlow was brought to justice following Operation Wentletrap - one of Durham Constabulary's largest ever fraud investigations - and was jailed for nine years at Durham Crown Court after admitting 10 charges of fraud, one charge of theft and one charge of concealing, converting, and transferring criminal property.
The court heard the mother-of-two, formerly of Stanley, stole over £500,000 from her own mother before setting up her own business called Lyne Barlow Independent Travel in November 2019, having previously been employed as a travel agent. She quickly gained a reputation of being able to provide holidays at the cheapest price around and she told customers she was ATOL and ABTA protected - which was a lie.
However, the discrepancy in price meant Barlow used money which was either her own, borrowed from family or friends, loaned from the bank, or were funds from previous holidays paid for by her victims. She used new bookings to fund existing holidays, in what is described as a "Ponzi style scheme". In many cases, she offered customers a holiday or a particular length of stay but what they were getting was a much shorter trip and in some instances without return flights, which they only found out when they had reached their destination, leaving them stranded.
Barlow also encouraged family and friends to invest their savings and pension pay outs, promising them they were likely to see up to a six-figure return, however this never materialised. Some of the money she did gain was used to fund her own lifestyle, which included foreign holidays, designer clothes and lavish parties.
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