'Sadistic' mother pretended son was ill

Lisa Hayden-Johnson "revelled" in the national attention she achieved by claiming her young son was sick – including meetings with royalty and former Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The mother of two, from Brixham, Devon, amassed cash donations and charity gifts, including two cruises, and successfully lobbied for her son to receive a Child of Courage Award.

The 35-year-old was sentenced to three years and three months in prison at Exeter Crown Court yesterday after previously admitting charges of child cruelty and perverting the course of justice.

Her son was taken into care in October 2007. Prosecutor Andrew Macfarlane had said the cruelty she subjected him to was "lengthy and enduring" and she frequently described him "as the most ill child in Britain".

She claimed he suffered from a long list of illnesses, including diabetes, food allergies, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and dysphagia, subjected him to a total of 325 medical encounters and confined him to a wheelchair.

Mr Macfarlane said the boy "never suffered from any of these disorders or handicaps and the symptoms reported by the defendant were fictitious, either invented by her or created by her".

Medical treatment, including blood tests and being fed through a tube, meant he was "socially stigmatised".

The prosecutor said "the pinnacle of the defendant's achievements" came in 2005 when she successfully and "vigorously lobbied" for her son to receive a Child of Courage Award.

Photographs were submitted to the court showing the defendant and her son meeting Tony and Cherie Blair, actress June Whitfield, Lawrence Llewellyn-Bowen, Simon Cowell, the Duchess of Cornwall, and the casts of Casualty and EastEnders.

She also secured free tickets for The X Factor after contacting Simon Cowell.

Mr Macfarlane said the boy "was convinced that he was chronically and seriously ill" and added: "The effect of all this on his long-term psyche is unclear."

Hayden-Johnson faced the charge of perverting the course of justice after making a false claim of sexual assault in 2007 in a bid to avoid a diabetes test arranged for her son.

Sarah Munro, defending, said her client suffered from a factitious disorder – a condition in which a person acts as if he or she has an illness by feigning symptoms – and factitious disorder by proxy, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome or Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

Passing sentence, Judge Stephen Wildblood said five adjectives could sum up Hayden-Johnson – "cruel, manipulative, perverse, disordered and pitiful".