Victims of a “heartless” fraudster, who faked her own wedding to con relatives and friends out of more than £12,000, are questioning why they have only received a fraction of what she was ordered to pay back.
Charlotte Blackwell, 32, from Bridgend, was handed a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay £13,750 in compensation to the four victims by a judge in March 2025.
When she realised she would be avoiding jail Blackwell sobbed in relief and agreed to the judge’s demand that she pay at a rate of £400 a month.
But her victims say she has only paid a total of £163.
The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) said it could not give specific details on enforcement but added: “These were heartless crimes.”
In October 2025, the victims had only received £25.45 each since the order was imposed seven months earlier.
Since that time Blackwell, a mother of two, has paid an additional £15.30 to each of the victims – with no payments made in the last four months.
When the victims asked for updates from the MoJ they said they were told: “It’s being dealt with.”
Helen Morse is owed almost £3,500.
“We’ve sort of given up because there’s nowhere for us to turn. It feels like she’s being protected rather than the victims.”
Blackwell, who was previously spared jail for fraud against a children’s cancer charity, made bogus wedding plans in a scheme to pay off her gambling debts.
Between 2022 and 2024 she took £12,682 from members of the supposed wedding party under the pretence it was for a planned ceremony in Turkey.
The four victims were her then-fiancé’s mother Paula Thomas, who paid £3,296, and three of Thomas’ friends – including Morse, who paid £3,311, Sue Chapman, who paid £3,272, and Tracey Roberts, who paid £2,803.
Blackwell was ordered to pay £3,500 in compensation each to Thomas, Chapman, and Morse, and £3,250 to Roberts to “reflect the additional aggravation and distress” she had caused them.
She was also handed a suspended 12-month jail term, 120 hours of unpaid work and five days of rehabilitation activity.
Her barrister Alice Sykes said her client would be able to pay the compensation, as she was working full-time as an estate agent on £1,700 a month, as well as receiving universal credit.
Blackwell was back in court in October 2025 after being fined for breaching her community service order.