A WOMAN deceived friends into handing over thousands of pounds on the basis that she was due a £1 million inheritance.

Amanda Field, 48, made up lies to get money and gain sympathy but she blew the £50,000 she obtained on gambling online.

Field, 48, of Carmel Close in Blacon, Chester, who entered the dock at Mold Crown Court with a stick, admitted a £42,000 fraud against one couple and a £8,500 fraud against another man.

Judge Rhys Rowlands jailed her for 25 months but said that all the money had been frittered away and there was nothing left for compensation.

She had deceived two victims into giving her large amounts of money over a four year period, he said.

Victim Robert Hodson and his wife Anne Marie regarded her as a close family friend and she was the Godmother to one of their children.

On the basis of the supposed inheritance various amounts of money were handed over to support her and she even pursued Mr Hodson when he became ill and was hospitalised.

She told lie after lie to deceive her friends and to gain sympathy and Mr Hodson had to return to work early, working long hours, to earn money to support their children.

They were even concerned about having enough money to heat their home, the judge said.

The second victim, Phillip Wall, was a friend of the Hodsons who had lost £8,500.

When he asked for proof she produced false documents including a will and blamed her solicitor for the delays.

But there was no inheritance.

"It transpired the money you were given was simply frittered away by you to fund your gambling habit," the judge said.

She had taken advantage of them in a "wholly dishonest and cynical way".

The court heard how she spent £67,000 on gambling over a six year period.

Barrister Matthew Curtis, prosecuting, said Field used to work with Mrs Hodson, was the Godmother of one of the children and she regarded her as her best friend. The Hodsons had known her since 1991.

In 2011 she mentioned that she would be the beneficiary of the will of an old man she had been cleaning for. That was two years before the fraud started.

Then in 2013 she told how she was getting a £360,000 inheritance and she persuaded Mr Hodson to loan various large and small amounts of money on that basis. The money came from savings and the sale of some shares.

She said there were delays and said the will was being contested but gave assurances that the inheritance was imminent.

She eventually admitted she had lied but then said her father was seriously ill in hospital and her partner had left her.

She promised to return the money by December 2017 but never did.

The court heard Mr Warr was a friend of the Hodsons who spent some time living in China and on his return he was told of her plight.

She asked him for money and when he asked for proof she produced a false will and other documents.

Field even pointed out to him a plot of land in Saughall which she said would be hers as part of her inheritance.

Defence barrister Phillip Clemo said Field was devastated by what she had done.

She was receiving counselling for her gambling and for other issues in her life.

Mr Clemo said Field had mental health issues, suffered from anxiety and depression and she had the care of her 27-year-old son who was housebound.

His father could not care for him because his accommodation was not appropriate.

Judge Rowlands said when he asked why his father could not move into her home to care for the son he had been told that was not possible because he had trouble with the neighbours – something he said he found it very difficult to understand or accept.

The offences were simply too serious to be dealt with by anything but an immediate prison sentence and one of some length, he said.