Laura McPherson: Mum lied to partner about cancer diagnosis, used his money for cosmetic procedures

A mother has been ordered to repay her ex partner thousands of dollars after she conned him into funding her cosmetic procedures by pretending to have cancer.

Laura McPherson, 36, must cough up $61,000 after she admitted to spending five years abusing the love of her then boyfriend Jon Leonard, 44, by fabricating medical appointments and staging pictures of herself being treated for cancer.

Earlier this year McPherson avoided a prison sentence when she pleaded guilty to fraud, but at a further hearing at Derby Crown Court she was ordered to repay Mr Leonard by January 5, 2026.

The mother-of- two first lied about having cervical cancer in 2017, and later went on to tell Mr Leonard she also had colon and breast cancer.

Mr Leonard had found a cancer specialist from the UK to help McPherson, but she insisted on other treatment options with the NHS.

McPherson told him she had a hysterectomy and lied about undergoing chemotherapy treatment at Royal Derby Hospital, the Derby Telegraph reported.

During her initial sentencing in March this year, the court was told that McPherson lied to Mr Leonard when she asked him for money so she could afford cancer treatment at Mayr clinic in Austria.

The fabrication went on for years, and Mr Leonard said he had taken calls from one of McPherson’s daughters when she had became extremely upset because she thought her mother might die.

According to The Sun, McPherson told Mr Leonard that she needed to undergo a mastectomy, but actually used his money on a breast augmentation procedure.

Mr Leonard had checked McPherson’s emails and found she had booked wellbeing holidays and also had weight loss treatment at his expense.

During the sentencing, Mr Leonard described the impact of McPherson’s lies on his wellbeing as well as the woman’s daughter.

“She has never apologised and never shown any remorse for her actions. She is a compulsive liar who even convinced her own daughter she was suffering from cancer,” he told the court.

Judge Jonathan Straw sentenced McPherson to a two-year community order, and called her a “wicked and devious liar who embarked on five years of deceit”.

“It is difficult to imagine how an individual could be so calculated and cruel to those who loved and cared for her.

“This was a sophisticated offence involving significant planning which was carried out over a sustained period of time.

“This is a high-impact offence which has had a serious and detrimental effect on Mr Leonard, both financially and emotionally.”