Unmasking Samantha Cookes: The Many Lives of a Serial Fraudster
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Pat Kenny Show. With timber living log cabins. Saturday and Sunday from 10am on Newstalk. Conversation that counts.
Alan Bradley's new book tells the extraordinary story of a serial fraudster who moved between Ireland and the UK for more than a decade, assuming multiple identities and leaving a trail of devastated families, duped institutions and exploited charities in her wake. Through meticulous investigation and first-hand testimony, an award-winning documentary filmmaker, Alan Bradley, reveals how Samantha Cook's better known to many as Carrie Jade Williams weaponised trust, disability and vulnerability to deceive everyone from young parents to universities and even the Irish state itself. Alan, you're very welcome to the programme.
Good morning, Pat. Thanks for having me.
Can you tell us how the story of this convicted serial fraudster began? I mean, an ordinary schoolgirl in Gloucester, how does she become something else?
What is the extraordinary story of Samantha Cookes?
Yeah, I mean, that's a really interesting question. And it's what I've spent the last three years, I suppose, trying to figure out how does somebody from a background like Samantha Cooks end up doing what she's done? There's no obvious answer to it. She had a really nice upbringing by all accounts. Her family and friends have kind of told me that even back in her early days as a child, there was always this propensity to lie. make up stories, kind of live in fantasy worlds. She loved reading. She loved storybooks. And it was quite harmless at a young age. In secondary school, the girls in her secondary school kind of got to understand, take everything Samantha says with a pinch of salt. Okay, a fantasist.
Yes. But I suppose at the age of 19, she had a baby daughter, Martha, who tragically passed away. Now, the circumstances were unfortunate, to say the least. Yeah, on the day Martha was due to be given up for adoption, Samantha brought Martha to bed and fell asleep, unfortunately, in the bed with Martha. And when she awoke, Martha had suffocated by a pillow. So a very tragic situation. And it seems after that, Samantha's life kind of spiraled. And in 2011 was the first time she was convicted in the UK of surrogacy fraud. So sort of, it seems to be from there, things took a darker turn.
Now, tell me about the surrogacy fraud. What was she trying to do? Was she going to carry a baby for somebody else and charge them for it and then did not?
Exactly, yeah. So a really lovely couple I met from North Allerton in the UK, Katie Taylor and Luke, they were struggling to have children and came across Samantha. She seemed like the answer to all their problems. They were delighted. They paid her their life savings. And unfortunately, Samantha didn't go through with it. It seems she was leading them on and she was convicted of that. Did she serve time? No. No. Why not? She was given a suspended sentence, and I suppose the death of her daughter was used as mitigating circumstances at the time.
Now, one of the most tragic characters in your whole narrative is a man that we'll call Joe. It's not his real name. Tell me about what happened to Joe.
Yeah, Joe's story actually still lives with me after he told me.
How did Samantha Cookes' early life influence her actions?
I was stunned after it. Joe met Samantha in 2011 when they were studying together. And they formed a relationship. Things moved quite quickly. She was amazing. He fell deeply in love. They had two children. A lot of things happened that are outlined in the book with those two children. But what happened in the end, unfortunately for Joe, is it was decided that Samantha couldn't care for those children and they were removed from her custody. So for Joe to have them in his life, he needed to cut off contact from Samantha, which he did. Unfortunately, she reeled him back in. He did go and visit her when she was in Ireland. Social services were made aware of that, and through a process, his children were removed from his care and given up for adoption.
So to this day, they've lived their whole lives without their father, and it's a very sad situation for him.
Now, tell me about the different identities that she took on over quite a short period of time, really.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:59
2
What is the extraordinary story of Samantha Cookes?
0:59–3:01
3
How did Samantha Cookes' early life influence her actions?
3:01–8:02
4
What led to Samantha's first conviction for surrogacy fraud?
8:02–11:59
5
Who are the victims of Samantha Cookes and what happened to them?
11:59–13:23