The East Belfast woman was called ‘wicked’ and ‘an emotional parasite’ by the judge during her sentencing
A ‘wicked emotional parasite’ who pretended to be a kidney donor for a seriously ill man “showed no remorse” as she was sentenced to five months in prison.
Billy Cullen and his wife, Joanne, thought their prayers were answered when they were contacted by East Belfast woman Nicola Hutton after they had issued an appeal with Belfast Live for people to join the donor register as he was going into kidney failure.
She told the couple that she was going to start the process to see if she was a match, eventually telling them that she was, but never had any intention of going through with it as she had never spoken to the organ donation service at all.
READ MORE: Newtownabbey man’s life put at risk due to ‘evil’ fake kidney donorREAD MORE: ‘Wicked, callous and evil liar’ convicted for false offer to donate kidney to sick man
For six months she strung the couple along, even meeting them in person to go for a meal, and during that time Billy’s condition deteriorated to the point where his kidney function reduced to just 9% and he had to start dialysis treatment.
After being contacted by the organ transplant team and being told that a donor had still not been found for Billy. The couple were shocked to hear this, believing that Hutton was going through the process of preparing for surgery and then laid a trap for her to see if she was telling the truth.
She asked the 54-year-old who her doctors were, giving her a fake name, and when she confirmed that it was her doctor, Joanne knew that Hutton was a liar and reported her to the police.
During her trial at Belfast Magistrates’ Court, Hutton argued that she had been engaging with the organ donation service and had attended appointments with them minutes after a staff member said that she had not. She was also unable to give a date for these appointments and after being asked a number of times just said “December”.
Hutton, of Strandburn Drive, was later convicted of a false communication offence and sentenced to five months in prison with Judge Francis Rafferty saying: “I do not recall encountering a series of acts or behaviour of such abject wickedness in many a long year.
“Your repugnant, repellant behaviour was exacerbated by the fact that you maintained your catalogue of lies and evasions, you required a member of the transplant team to take themselves away from the work they do, to sit in court and listen to you lie about them, their procedures and their professionalism.”
Mr Rafferty went on: “At a time when the family were facing the gravest threat of all, the loss of a husband and a father, you decided to inject yourself into their world and spread poison, wickedness and false hope.
“A search process that exasperated the family, that caused them waking torment.”
Joanne Cullen told Belfast Live that following the sentencing she and her husband were delighted that Hutton was going to serve time in prison for her actions, however were later told that she has appealed the sentence and conviction and is yet to serve any time in prison.
She said that Hutton has never taken responsibility for her actions and did not show an ounce of remorse during the trial or sentencing. She has also queried why she has not faced more serious charges as her actions “nearly killed her husband”.
Thankfully, Billy is now in a much better position after securing a kidney donor earlier this year thanks to the help of his employer, The Henderson Group, which had issued an appeal for donors throughout the company, with a coworker of Billy’s stepping in and making the life-saving move to donate a kidney. Billy did not know this was the case until after the operation and said that the process was so much smoother than the drawn-out ordeal that the “fantasist” had pretended to go through.
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here
#Fake #kidney #donor #Nicola #Hutton #showed #remorse #appeals #conviction
