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A former travel agent has been handed a suspended prison sentence and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work after conning a family of 11.
Ellen Harrison, 49, conned the family by giving them bogus tickets for their dream holiday.
The Hull Daily Mail reports the agent even claimed there had been a terrorist attack in Turkey hours before they were due to fly out to the destination as an attempt to cover up her fraud.
It was only when Maureen Kay, 67, and her family turned up to the airport that they discovered their tickets were fake.
Harrison, who is now a care home chef, had sent the great-grandmother two texts, one saying “Don’t take those two beautiful children to Turkey” followed by “It’s cancelled. Speak to you later”.
The family had used Turkish Riviera Travel in Anlaby six times before.
The court heard Harrison had been having financial problems. She took the £7,500 and failed to admit the deceit for a year.
Harrison took the money between November 2011 and October last year. She pleaded guilty to fraud at Hull Crown Court on the basis her actions were not fraudulent from the outset.
Recorder Anthony Hawks said: “You were running a travel agency and got yourself into financial difficulty.
“You decided that the money the Kay family were giving to you for 11 of them to go on a family holiday was going to be used by you, not to pay for their holiday and pass the money on to the various companies, but you were going to keep that money for yourself and use it to try to pay other expenses of your business.
“You sent bogus tickets and the fraud continued until they actually got to the airport. They turned up at the airport to find to their horror that no-one knew anything about the flights or holiday.
“You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Even the day before you were telling lies saying there had been a bomb or a terrorist outrage.
“You have disgraced yourself and lost your business as a result. It caused a considerable amount of distress and financial loss to these people who trusted you.”
Harrison has been given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and has been ordered to pay £1,000 compensation and to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Detective Constable Steve Bromby said: “The defendant has abused her position of trust as a travel agent. The Kay family trusted her not only booking their family holiday to Turkey, but with their money.”
The agent was not an Abta member.
Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, said: “You should always verify that your travel company is a member of a trade association such as Abta, research the company thoroughly and never pay into an individual’s bank account by direct bank transfer.”