Image caption Charlton also admitted pretending to have terminal cancer

A woman who tried to swindle more than £150,000 out of her grandmother and fiance has been ordered to repay £1.

Emma Charlton, 25, used their chequebooks to try to buy goods, but not all the cheques were cashed and she only got away with £26,704.

Charlton, of Walkerville, Newcastle, admitted 23 fraud and theft charges in March and was jailed for three years.

But at a proceeds of crime hearing in Newcastle she was only ordered to repay £1 because she is "penniless".

The hearing heard how she used her grandmother's stolen chequebook to pay for more than £125,000 worth of holidays, food and jewellery.

She also posed as the editor of Vogue magazine to give the impression she was wealthy and to con her fiance Neil Lupton out of almost £30,000.

'No assets'

Charlton, of Meadowfield Gardens, was caught after she used stolen cheques to pay for a charity fashion show at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead, which never took place.

She was brought from her cell to attend the hearing on Thursday.

Mitigating, Michael Hodson said Charlton was not motivated by self interest but had been trying to create a fantasy world to feel better about herself.

Judge Brian Forster said: "In view of the fact that the defendant has no available assets I make a nominal finding in the sum of £1."

At a hearing earlier this year, Charlton, formerly known as Emma Golightly, also pleaded guilty to falsely claiming she had terminal cancer in a bid to obtain the services of a carer.