LONDON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A British mother who faked her son's illness faces up to three years in prison for defrauding the government of $212,000 in benefits, officials said.
The woman, whose name was not released, pleaded guilty Friday in Exeter Crown Court to fraud and cruelty against a minor, The Times of London reported Saturday.
The woman, who studied to be a nurse, for years kept her son, now 8, in a wheelchair during public appearances and fooled doctors into believing he had cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis, and was allergic to nearly all food. Doctors fitted the boy with a permanent feeding tube.
The woman's story unraveled when she claimed the boy was a diabetic and a doctor saw through her story and contacted police, The Times reported. The boy, who doctors said was mentally traumatized, spent at least six weeks out of every year hospitalized.
"He was made out to be the sickest kid in Britain when all the time it was his mum who was the sickest person around," an unidentified police official told the newspaper.
