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Fake Glastonbury ticket seller facing prison
By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 17 April 2015
A woman convicted of fraud is facing prison, after earning over £23,000 selling fake Glastonbury tickets.
Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court heart that Christine Babb from East Grinstead had duped 29 people into handing over money between August 2013 and July 2014. According to the East Grinstead Courier, she told her victims she worked in the music industry and therefore had access to tickets for the festival, which had sold out.
In May last year, Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis issued a statement warning people without tickets about fakes being sold, in which he named Babb specifically, saying: “Nobody called Christine Babb is either employed by Glastonbury Festival or has any tickets to sell for the festival”.
The court was also told that she has previous convictions for “very similar” scams. In her defence, it was argued that mitigating factors of borderline personality disorder, Crohn’s disease and bulimia should be taken into account.
However, the court agreed with the prosecution that the maximum sentence that a magistrates’ court is able to impose was not heavy enough, meaning the case has now been referred to Isleworth Crown Court. Babb will appear there on 12 May to receive her sentence.
