Southsea daughter who faked gunpoint kidnap to extort money from dad is sentenced
A Southsea daughter who pretended she was held at gunpoint while gagged by men wearing balaclavas to extort money from her own dad has been sentenced in court.
Sophie Carter, 40, of Elphinstone Road, concocted a plan before obtaining cash from her father who was “genuinely concerned” for her safety.
Portsmouth Crown Court heard how Carter hatched a story to rip off her parent which led to police investigating the “kidnap”. The drug addict claimed she was being held hostage in Portsmouth against her will until a drug debt was paid off.
The tale was so convincing it led to the defendant’s dad handing over £645 for the release of his daughter before the scam was exposed as a pack of lies.
Prosecutor Rachel Standish said: “The defendant said she needed money to pay off a drug debt and was being held. The father was genuinely concerned about her safety and reported the kidnap to police which investigated.”
Ms Standish said “different scenarios” were given by Carter but she had told her father she was captured by men wearing balaclavas who had a 9mm handgun. The defendant claimed she had been “gagged” and could not answer her phone, but could text message.
Carter’s dad only feared he had been duped when the location of where his daughter was supposedly held changed from Portsmouth to Petersfield.
Carter previously admitted a charge of fraud by false representation following the incident on January 7. The charge sheet reads: “You committed fraud in that you dishonestly made a false representation to Christopher Carter that you had been kidnapped and required money, when you were not kidnapped, intending to make a gain, namely obtaining money from your father, for yourself.”
Despite the betrayal, Carter’s dad attended court in “support” of his daughter and said in a victim impact statement she has “skills” and with the right help could “move forward” with her life. The dad put the offending down to people Carter encountered while being homeless, with her “living in constant fear”.
During the hearing, sex-offender Carter also admitted three charges of failing to comply with their notification requirements. These were for not telling police of a change of address and failing to tell the force of their no fixed address status.
Carter was previously handed a four-month jail term suspended for 18 months in August 2023 for making indecent images of children. This was then extended to a suspended term of 24 months in November after a breach.
Despite the latest offences putting Carter in breach of their suspended sentence, judge Michael Bowes KC ruled out a jail term. “I’m satisfied it is in the public interest to impose a community order,” he said when referring to the latest offences.
The judge called the fraud offence “opportunistic” before adding: “You have an unhappy and troubled background. Your parents have done everything they can to support and help you. You took money off your father by pretending to be kidnapped.”
Carter was given an 18-month community order with 20 rehabilitation days and a drug rehabilitation requirement for six-months.