Get involved A SICK prankster could have duped cancer victims into turning up at a fake charity fashion show that was never going to
go ahead. Detectives are investigating a possible fraud after around 20 people turned up to model at the event, on Sunday, May 10, which they believed had been organised to raise awareness of breast cancer. However, after arriving at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead, and getting made-over by professional hairdressers and make-up artists, the models, who are all believed to be cancer-sufferers, discovered there were no guests or audience and no fashion show was taking place. Bosses at the hotel contacted police after they realised the event was fake and that the hairdressers and make-up artists had not been paid. And detectives are now trying to trace the models, who they believe are the real victims of the prank, to find out who asked them to take part in the event. Det Cons Frank Cox of Gateshead CID: “There was a cancer awareness event organised and we believe it was set-up in the belief that it wasn’t going to go ahead.
We don’t know why they have done this, but we believe they have contacted cancer victims and asked them to take part.