A woman has told how her 'best friend' was jailed after fooling her into believing she had bagged her dream job - only to find out it didn't exist.
Manipulative Helen Dove, 33, posed as 15 different council workers over email to convince Kim Baker, 44, she had landed a new job,
The deceit saw Dove, from St Helens, Merseyside, persuade Kim to quit her job of 17 years in order to take up the new role, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Eventually, Kim found out she had been duped and lost around £50,000 in wages, as she waited months for her new job to start, thanks to reassurance from her 'best mate'.
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Helen was set to be chief bridesmaid at Kim's wedding - until her elaborate lies left the day in ruins.
Speaking to the Sun, Kim told how Helen "couldn't do enough for her" - from babysitting to coffee runs.
So when she told Kim she could help secure her dream job in child social services, it didn't seem suspicious.
Unsure about whether to make the jump, Helen convinced her to take redundancy from her existing job and set her up with an interview.
But after months of delays, with her finances running low - Kim made the sickening discovery that her 'best friend' was conning her.
The bizarre fake job con cost Kim £50,000, leaving her and her fiance Phil, 46, unable to afford Christmas presents and forcing them to cancel their wedding day.
The scam left a top judge scratching his head as it appeared to have no reasonable motive whatsoever.
The pair met at a local stable, where Helen approached Kim with a coffee on a freezing morning. They became as thick as thieves, with Helen becoming part of the family.
She even holidayed with Kim, Phil and kids Shawna, 19, Zach, 18, Kendra, 15, Elise, 14 and Logan, nine, in Devon.
Alongside a job at BT, Kim dreamt of working in social services and studied for a diploma in childcare in the evening.
When Helen found out, she convinced her pal to apply for a job within the children's services department at Warrington Borough Council.
But instead of helping - she created 15 fake colleagues to trick her into believing she was hired.
She sent thousands of emails from more than a dozen false accounts - even asking her to manage staff rotas - to keep up the manipulation.
But Kim and Phil eventually busted the maid of honour when after becoming suspicious at the length of time that had passed without pay.
A forged bank statement led to her visiting the council and being told there was no employment record for anyone under the name Helen Dove.
After confronting Helen over the fraudulent statement, she was finally sent an email to confirm her contract was in the post.
But suspicious Phil and Kim visited the post office it had been sent from - and asked to see the CCTV footage, which revealed the sender was not a council official but 'best friend' Helen Dove.
The court heard the scheme had left Kim devastated, paranoid and that she had been forced to cancel her wedding. Now she plans to hold a smaller event later this year - with a small circle of trusted friends and family.
Zahra Baqri, defending, said Dove's motive was not to cause her victim financial loss but "a desperate and misguided attempt at keeping her friendship".
She said Dove "lacked her own domestic unit, she craved that domestic closeness" and wanted to help Ms Baker, but created a scheme that "snowballed".
Ms Baqri added: "She says she did not know how to get herself out of the mess she had created and at the same time maintain the friendship".
Sentencing Dove, Judge Robert Warnock said a psychological assessment revealed no significant mental health issues.
He said: "I do not have a clear understanding as to why you behaved in this way and for such a long period.
"You have no previous convictions. You are intelligent and have academic qualifications.
"In an attempt to understand why you behaved in the way you did the court has obtained a psychiatric report... [that said] that you felt you wanted to 'help' the victim and to create 'a family for her'.
"I simply do not accept that explanation as it does not begin to address your actions after it became obvious what effect your lies and deception were having on your victim."
Dove, of Prescot Road in St Helens, was jailed for two years and eight months. She had admitted two counts of fraud by false representation.
Detective Sergeant Paul Kay from Merseyside Police ’s Economic Crime Team said: "This was a really unusual case and I have never seen anything like it before in my career.
"Dove made no monetary gain from this but the victim suffered unnecessary disruption and a loss of salary by Dove’s ongoing actions.
"Thanks to the extensive investigations of Constable Adam Carter we were able to establish Dove created a number of fictional persona through which she was able to convince her victim that she had been given a genuine job offer.
"I hope that Dove will use the time in prison to reflect on the consequences of her actions.
"Her victim was exceptionally supportive in assisting the prosecution. I hope that today’s sentence means she can finally move on with her life."
