The cancer victim who never was and a girl desperate for attention: How a radio presenter was left heartbroken by a hoax so cruel it defies belief

Shocked: Radio DJ Charlie O'Brien can't believe she was tricked

Of all the hundreds of emails breakfast radio presenter Charlie O’Brien had received that day, one poignant message stood out.
It was from a young man called Marcus Cotts, who’d contacted her show requesting a song for his fiancee Lucy along with a message saying how much he loved her.
‘Thank you so much for what you did,’ he wrote a couple of days later. ‘The reason it was so special is because my fiancee Lucy is dying from a rare form of leukaemia.’
Charlie, 32, was so moved she emailed back: ‘I’m so sorry. I can’t believe what you are going through. Pass on my best wishes to Lucy.’
Looking back, Charlie, who works for a radio station in Kent, says: ‘That’s the most rewarding part of this job. You can make someone’s day, make them smile, make them happy.
‘I receive a lot of emails thanking me, but Marcus’s message tugged on my heartstrings and I just couldn’t ignore it. I didn’t know that by replying I was about to walk into a trap.’
And what an elaborate trap it would prove to be. It would be 20 months before Charlie realised she’d been the victim of a cruel hoax, involving a fictional cast of characters created by Lucy, the supposedly cancer-stricken girl she had played that record for.
Far from being desperately ill, Lucy is a healthy child carer. A young woman, it seems, possessed of a vivid imagination. Targeting Charlie via Twitter and Facebook using fake profiles, Lucy wove an elaborate web of deceit by spinning a heart-breaking story of love, tragedy and death.
And it seems she went to such elaborate lengths not for financial or material gain, but in a desperate quest for attention.
The first of Lucy’s imaginary characters was the grief-stricken Marcus, but he was soon joined by his younger sister Siobhan (Shiv), cousin Niamh and Lucy’s best friend, Abbie. None of them was real.
To allay any doubts Charlie might have, Lucy even agreed to meet the DJ twice, putting in Oscar-worthy performances complete with tears and bandages.

Given that Charlie is an award-winning radio journalist with a first-class degree, who not only knows her way around social networking sites, but how to identify and block the more suspect fans, Lucy must have been pretty convincing.
The daughter of a teacher and a first-aid trainer, Charlie was brought up to be compassionate. Too kind for her own good, perhaps.
‘Before this happened I never considered myself gullible. I’m the eldest of five children, I’ve worked since I was 15 and have been a journalist for ten years,’ says Charlie, speaking for the first time about the scam.
‘You’d think I’d know better than to fall for a prank or scam, being aware of all the pitfalls and risks. I can’t believe how naive and trusting I was.
‘When I replied to Marcus’s first email I did so with an open heart and the best of intentions. I just couldn’t believe someone would lie about something as serious as cancer. Once I’d been sucked in, I didn’t know how to extricate myself without seeming rude or heartless.’

Message: This letter was one of many Charlie was sent by her hoaxer

Charlie is speaking out because she wants her story to act as a warning to others. If it can happen to her, she says, it can happen to anyone.
She admits she was sucked into Lucy’s fictional drama frighteningly quickly. When Marcus started sending a steady stream of messages with heart-breaking updates about Lucy’s deteriorating condition, she couldn’t help but respond with sympathy.
Marcus started following Charlie on Twitter and added her as a ‘friend’ on Facebook. Before long, Charlie discovered she was also being followed on Twitter by Shiv, Niamh and Abbie.

Warning: Charlie is sharing her story to warn others about being taken in by similar attention-seeking stories

She was flattered when they told her how much her support meant to them. When they told her Lucy was in a coma and was expected to die, she felt she couldn’t desert them.
Then in May 2011, Lucy’s tale took a nasty turn. Shiv contacted Charlie with devastating news - Marcus had taken an overdose and killed himself, unable to face life without Lucy.
Indeed, on Marcus’s Twitter page was his last message: ‘I’m sorry Dotty (Lucy’s nickname). It’s too hard.’ This was followed by ‘RIP Marcus’. ‘I felt absolutely dreadful,’ says Charlie. ‘I even felt guilty, thinking I was responsible in some way and hadn’t been able to prevent Marcus’s death.’
Worse was to come. Shiv then told Charlie she had found a letter addressed to her at Marcus’s flat. Could she send it to her? Distressed, Charlie supplied her address.
The handwritten note from Marcus was waiting on her doormat the night she returned from her younger brother’s wedding.
It reads: ‘You will probably never know how much you have helped me these last few weeks. Your continued support for two complete strangers is humbling... by the time you read this I will no longer be here. I just can’t watch her suffer any more.’ Fake, every last word of it.
Charlie says: ‘I was in a terrible state that night. I was in tears and hardly slept. I felt emotionally drained.’
Just two weeks later there was another dramatic twist when Lucy woke up from her coma - only to discover her fiancé was dead.
She sent Charlie a message thanking her for everything she had done and asking for her phone number so they could speak in person.
‘I was hesitant, but thought: “What’s the worst that could happen?” Part of me knew it was a bad idea, but I felt so awful for her and what she’d been through,’ says Charlie.
She spent half an hour on the phone to Lucy, who sobbed throughout. She talked about her cancer and said she didn’t know how she was going to cope without Marcus.

'Your continued support for two complete strangers is humbling... by the time you read this I will no longer be here. I just can’t watch her suffer any more.'

Fake suicide note from 'Marcus'

‘She sounded very sweet, young and vulnerable. She told me her mother couldn’t cope with her cancer and said: “I wish I had a mum like you,” ’ says Charlie.
The messages from Lucy and her alter egos continued. Whenever Charlie tried to distance herself, there would be some new drama to hook her back in.
Overwhelmed, Charlie confided in her parents and friends. When they voiced their doubts, she arranged a meeting with Lucy to find out if she and her story were real.
Charlie gently quizzed Lucy for an hour in a coffee bar and left convinced her story was true.
‘If anything, I felt bad for having doubted her,’ says Charlie, though she started to encourage Lucy and her friends to look elsewhere for help.
‘I kept saying: “Look, I’m not qualified to talk to you about this. You need professional help.” But the messages never stopped.’
Then in August 2011, Lucy asked Charlie to meet her again, this time at a friend’s house.
‘Common sense must have deserted me because, though I knew this was all getting out of hand, I agreed to go.
‘When I arrived, Lucy was a gibbering wreck, sobbing as she told me the cancer had come back and she didn’t have long to live.
‘She pulled up her top and showed me bandages around her abdomen, saying she’d just had her spleen removed. She told me she couldn’t fight any more. I gave her a hug and calmed her down, telling her she needed to talk to her parents.’

Hoax: Charlie received this suicide note, purportedly from Marcus. But every word was fake

Manipulation: Lucy later followed up this letter with meetings, where she pretended to have surgical scars and broke down in tears

That night Charlie received messages from Shiv and Abbie saying Lucy had gone missing. Charlie urged them to phone the police.

The next day there was a message saying: ‘We found her. She took her life last night.’ Charlie says: ‘I was in floods of tears, completely beside myself. I was in such a state I went round to my parents and then for a long run to try to clear my head.
‘Shiv kept messaging me saying: “I need you not to walk out of my life because you were the last person to see her alive. You are my last connection with her.” I was too upset to reply, so then she asked: “Why are you ignoring me?” ’
‘My mum said to me: “I’ve got a horrible feeling about this. Too much has happened. You must be the victim of a scam.” My blood ran cold. What if Mum was right?’
But Charlie’s fears evaporated she was sent an internet link to a memorial tribute page for Lucy.
‘Hundreds of people had posted messages. It looked real and I thought: “She can’t have faked this,” ’ says Charlie. ‘Then they invited me to her funeral.’
Charlie was unable to attend because she was abroad. She wonders now if Lucy had learned this from her Twitter page and sent the invite knowing she couldn’t be there.
In the months following Lucy’s supposed suicide, Charlie admits she felt consumed with sadness. The double tragedy constantly played on her mind.
Lucy could have chosen this moment to end the hoax, but the messages from Shiv, Niamh and Abbie continued.

 ‘I don’t know what to say, I had absolutely no idea.’

Lucy's father, on hearing she had lied about suffering from cancer

To mark the first anniversary, they told Charlie they’d released balloons in Lucy’s memory and sent the DJ pictures. The scam was finally exposed in January.
Charlie was looking at her smartphone one evening when she noticed something startling - Lucy was active on Facebook. She’d posted a new picture of herself posing with a celebrity.
‘I was stunned. I thought: “How can this be? She’s dead.” Then, as the truth hit me, I felt furious.
So I messaged her: “Well, you are either not dead or this is someone posing as Lucy. Start talking or I will go to the police. I look forward to your explanation. I hope it was fun for you and your friends.” ’
Six minutes later Lucy replied: ‘I never wanted any of it. It wasn’t my idea and it wasn’t targeted at you in any way.
‘I got caught up in the wrong crowd completely and my life got out of control... my behaviour was disgusting and I can’t even apologise enough. I have wanted to get in contact with you for so long, but didn’t know how.’
Begging Charlie not to go to the police, Lucy continued: ‘I am only 21 years old and just a silly little girl who made a big mistake and enjoyed all the attention. Once it all got going I didn’t know how to stop.
‘I have definitely, 100 per cent learned my lesson and I do not want this affecting the rest of my life... I know what we did was so incredibly cruel, but I beg you, Charlie.’
She did not report Lucy to the police, having been advised that because she had neither threatened her nor tried to extort money,  no crime had been committed.
Charlie has no idea if Lucy acted alone or - as claimed - was put up to it by friends as a dare.
Last night, Lucy failed to respond to messages, but her shocked father confirmed his daughter had never suffered from leukaemia or a serious illness, physical or psychiatric.
‘I don’t know what to say,’ he said. ‘I had absolutely no idea.’
Charlie continues: ‘When I found out the truth I was angry, but also hurt. She’d made a fool of me for so long on such an emotional level. I felt stupid, embarrassed and ashamed.
‘It’s one thing to make up a story as a prank, but to take it to the level she did is unbelievable.’
The Mail has chosen not to identify Lucy, who is 22 and from Kent. We can report, however, that she is an active presence on Twitter and other social networking sites.
In July, she tweeted a former reality star who had spoken out about a suicide bid. Lucy claimed she had attempted the same thing a month before.
Did she? Not as far as her father is aware. In recent months, she has posted several party pictures of herself on Facebook. In one shot she is posing with a male stripper who is wearing nothing but a peaked hat.
On the picture sharing site Instagram, there is a snap of Lucy perched on a toilet seat, sticking two fingers up at the camera.
As for Charlie, she is now wary of social media sites.
‘Young people are growing up in an age where our whole lives are out there on the internet. It’s not just celebrities now, everyone has an online presence,’ says Charlie.
‘It’s so much easier for people to tap into your life and hide behind fake profiles. The internet and social networking sites are fantastic as long as they’re used properly, but anyone can be conned.

‘I felt angry with Lucy, but I pity her more than anything else. What must her life be like to go to those lengths to get love and attention?’