Daughter cons parents out of over £250k by pretending to be at Oxford University

A daughter conned over £250K from her parents by convincing them she was at Oxford University – but spent the money on drugs, holidays and her wedding, a court heard.

Deceitful Nicola Boardman, 34, told proud mum and dad Frank and Marilyn she needed the funds as part of a large research project.

But she was never offered a place at the university and wasted their money on heroin, lavish trips abroad and a secret wedding – her parents were not even invited too.

Her long trail of deceit also included telling her long-suffering family that she had a still-born child – despite terminating the baby herself several months earlier.

Mr and Mrs Boardman even gave up their jobs and sold their home – believing their daughter’s assertions that she would make £3m on the strength of her academic work.

She told them her work towards a PhD in social sciences at Oxford involved fake trips to Mongolia and Greece along others.

Boardman was jailed for 40 months at Truro Crown Court today after a judge heard she had kept up her lies for four years – and wasted every last penny of the money.

The court heard she had a career ahead but fell into the wrong crowd after graduating from Camborne College, part of Plymouth Uni, with a first class social sciences degree.

She pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and was jailed for what the judge described as a “prolonged” and “sophisticated” operation which took place over four years.

Prosecuting, Philip Lee told Truro Crown Court: “This defendant is the oldest child.

Sadly she became addicted to heroin when she was a teenager.

“It transpired that everything she told them about Oxford and Cambridge was completely fabricated.

“There were no such interviews and so such scholarships. It was on the strength of those assertions that they [the parents] decided to subsidise her living expenses.”

Boardman – who first became involved in heroin during her teenage years – asked her father for money just after she had started to get her life on track.

The mother-of-one had achieved a first class honours degree in social sciences after receiving drug rehabilitation treatment in 2011.

But following completion of her degree, she then proceeded to lie to her parents about becoming a successful academic.

She was paid £250,000 by her father, from 2011 to 2015, who believed she needed the cash for research abroad, rent and travelling expenses.

The court heard that Boardman, of Truro, Cornwall, underwent a drug rehabilitation programme as a youngster.

Following her successful degree, she told her parents that she wanted to study for a doctorate.

Her 60-year-old father drove her to both Oxford and Cambridge under the belief that she was having interviews.

Boardman later told her father, who worked for trading standards, that she had won a scholarships to both but chose Oxford.

It was heard that Boardman continued to ask for money – of which £10,000 was spent on a wedding to a man from Redruth who she knew her family “hated”.

No members of her family were invited to the London ceremony and she continued to ask for money to fund holidays and live an expensive lifestyle.

The deceit took a turn for the worst when Boardman became pregnant.

She told her parents that she had suffered a stillborn child and went as far as to invite them to a “sham” ceremony where the ashes were scattered.

“The defendant later admitted to the police that she had lied about that and her pregnancy had been terminated in May,” said Mr Lee.

It was only when Boardman went missing that her mother found a note confessing her relapse and secret marriage.

She did however reassure them that her success as an academic would pay off – and her father had retired early under the premise that earnings from her work published in scientific journals would help him financially.

Mr Lee added: “Boardman completed a detailed schedule of expenses and her parents decided to sell their home after she presented fake draft sales contracts for her work worth £3 million.”

A victim impact statement from her father Frank, read out in court, said: “I personally have been deprived of my retirement that I have worked hard for, for the last 40 years.”

The court heard that Boardman had told police that her “addiction had spiralled out of control” and “words could not express” how sorry she was.

Sentencing her to 40 months imprisonment, Mr Justice James Dingemans said: “You are a 34-year-old lady and you have previous convictions for dishonesty that you committed when you were funding your previous heroin habit in 2007.

“You are the daughter of the victims in this case – Mr and Mrs Boardman – who are nearing retirement age. “You are one of three children.

“You became addicted to heroin as a teenager and after the involvement of police and social services you underwent drugs rehabilitation and you attended an access to further education course.

“Then in September 2008 you started at Camborne College on a social sciences degree which you graduated from in 2011 with a first class honours.

“From 2011 you started to deceive your parents and you have pleaded guilty to the single count on the indictment of fraud.

“Your parents paid some £250,000 for your rental expenses, your cash, your holidays.

“You continued the deceit by pretending that you had been paid for the publication of an article in March 2011 and you persuaded them to pay for the private education of your daughter.

“You pretended to have 12 pieces of academic research and you forged emails. Your parents having been completely deceived and decided to sell their house and move to Truro on the basis that you were pretending that academic work was valued at about £3million. Also your father decided to resign from his job in trading standards.”

He added: “This is another evidence based example of the destruction caused to society by the use of drugs.”

After the hearing, her father declined to comment.