A FORMER Tavistock woman — described as a 'female Walter Mitty' in court — has been jailed for more than two years for a festival ticket fraud involving more than £100,000.

Charmaine Bowers, aged 23 and her mother Tina Bowers, aged 51, both pleaded guilty at Plymouth Crown Court to six counts of fraud by false representation in connection with the sale of tickets for the Tomorrowland Music Festival held in Belgium.

Prosecutor Andrew Maitland said the pair, who came from Tavistock but now lived in Grimsby, Lincolnshire, were involved in the 'sophisticated' fraud between December 2012 and July 2013.

He said Charmaine had falsely claimed on a Facebook page she modelled for Nuts magazine and had access to promotional tickets. He said she had also claimed to earn £8,000 per month modelling for Dior and MAC cosmetics.

Mr Maitland said records seized by detectives found there were 'at least 311' people who paid up-front for a unique entrance wristband and confirmation slip.

The money that came in initially went into her mother's account until her own was set up. Mr Maitland said bank records revealed funds 'to the tune of £71,620 coming to the defendants'.

Investigators also found that Tina used her employer's office computer and printer in Tavistock to print off 'skilfully created' bar-coded confirmation slips for ticket buyers which had been created on Charmaine's laptop.

Mr Maitland said further investigation determined that the total paid by the victims amounted to £121,280. As 'disquiet' and pressure grew when the tickets did not appear, two of the ticket buyers, who were buying on behalf of others, suffered a number of calls, and they in turn called the Bowers, with Tina fielding many of the angry calls.

The court heard that Det Con Glenn Harrop of Devonport CID learned that Charmaine had created a series of Facebook pages – including one under the name Emily Stevens.

He said the creation of the Emily Stevens persona was 'a deliberate invention to create reality to this facade she was presenting'.

'Throughout her interview she tearfully denied all liability, as did her mother,' he said.

In mitigation, advocate Michael Green said Charmaine was suffering from bipolar, but accepted there was no formal diagnosis at the time of the fraud. He noted she was now passionate about politics and was a candidate for a local election in Lincolnshire.

Mr Green said she was now on medication to stabilise her bipolar disorder – which he said could present itself as mood instability, erratic behaviour, heavy spending, grandiose thinking alternating with low feelings.

However, Judge Jeremy Griggs interjected, saying: 'She was in control of her faculties to set up a rather sophisticated fraud.'

Accepting this, Mr Green said the condition could account as to why she was 'living in fantasy life'.

Responding, Judge Griggs suggested 'A female Walter Mitty? Many Walter Mittys appear before the court suffering bipolar condition, but they still face custodial terms'.

Sentencing, Judge Griggs said Charmaine played a 'leading role' and maintained her fantasy land during an interview with police in an attempt to divert the investigation.

He jailed her for two years and three months, taking into account her early guilty plea. He said Tina 'facilitated' the fraud and sentenced her to 29 weeks, suspended for two years. She was ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work .

He adjourned the case for seven days for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing to be timetabled.

Speaking after the hearing, Det Con Glenn Harrop said he was pleased justice has been done and the thanked the victims for their patience.

He said: 'Charmaine Bowers has been dishonest and devious to her victims and also to police throughout the investigation.

'She was a complete fantasist, using social media to carry out her crime. She has never worked but, having defrauded victims of their money, has managed to spend £70,000 in four months on living the good life, which included holidays to Denmark and Rome, cruise holidays for her parents, as well as TVs, computers and mobile phones, jewellery and clothes.

'What was particularly sickening was her reference to "Happy Money" on her bank accounts when transferring her ill-gotten gains to her mother's bank account. There was nothing happy about the loss to the victims who were mostly young 18 to 30 year olds with little disposable income. Other victims have included veteran servicemen just back from Afghanistan on leave.'

Det Con Harrop said Tina Bowers was 'happy to make life easier by illegal gains from Charmaine's lies, ignoring the hard facts that her daughter never had any legitimate modelling contracts'.

He added: 'I hope the custodial sentence given will allow Charmaine and Tina Bowers time to consider their crime and impact they had on their victims.'