They thought they’d managed to snag tickets to see one of the world’s best-selling pop stars.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the excitement felt by six Illawarra fans of global superstar Pink quickly turn to anger when their tickets to her Sydney concerts, purchased through a popular Facebook site, were rejected at the gate.
All six women placed their barcoded tickets under the scanners at the Sydney Entertainment Centre on two dates in July and August, acting on the assumption they’d purchased legitimate tickets to the concert.
However, they were soon told their tickets had already been scanned that evening, and were subsequently denied entry to the show.
On Tuesday, Angela Leanne Williams, the woman behind the scam, paid a hefty price for her deception.
The mother of two, already in jail on fraud-related charges, was handed an extra three months on top of her current sentence after admitting to seven charges of dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception.
A set of police facts handed to the court said Williams purchased tickets through Ticketmaster in October last year, buying multiple seats for two of Pink’s Sydney concerts, on July 30 and August 3 this year.
In mid-December Williams advertised the tickets for $150 each on a Facebook site promoting items for sale in the Illawarra.
Within days Williams had several takers and agreed to sell the tickets to five different women in the lead-up to Christmas, and again when one buyer contacted her in June this year.
The court heard on each occasion Williams communicated with the buyers, before agreeing to meet somewhere to hand over the tickets.
One exchange took place at Horsley shops, another at the Dapto workplace of one of the victims, and a further swap at the home of one of the buyers.
Williams was paid $150 for each ticket she handed over, and the buyers believed they were receiving legitimate tickets.
It was not until the unsuspecting women arrived at the entertainment centre turnstile that they realised they’d been duped, and went to police with their complaints.
Williams was eventually arrested in connection with the fraud on September 3, however during an initial interview with police denied she’d sold dodgy tickets.
However, Williams on Tuesday admitted she was guilty of the crimes and blamed her actions in part due to her serious gambling addiction.
She said she had begun working on her problems since being taken into custody.
Magistrate Michael Stoddart condemned Williams’ behaviour, saying she’d interfered with other people’s lives.
He sentenced her to a minimum 12 months’ jail, but agreed to set the term to run partially concurrently with her current term.
She will be eligible for parole in October next year.
Williams was also ordered to repay the money she had swindled from her victims.
