Samantha Cookes

Last updated

Samantha Jade Cookes
Born
Samantha Jade Cookes

1988 (age 36–37)
Gloucester, U.K.
Other names
  • Carrie Jade Williams
  • Jade O'Sullivan
  • Jade Cooke
  • Lucy FitzWilliams
  • Sadie Harris
Education Denmark Road High School
University of York (dropped out)
Occupationwriter
Children1
Convictions 26 October 2011 (Teesside Crown Court) [1]
11 February 2025 (Tralee Circuit Court) [2]
Criminal charge Fraud by false representation, [1] theft [2]
PenaltyFour years in jail with the final 12 months suspended [3]

Samantha Jade Cookes, (born 1988 in Gloucestershire [4] ), also known as Carrie Jade Williams, [5] Jade O'Sullivan, [6] Jade Cooke, [7] Lucy FitzWilliams, [8] and Sadie Harris, [9] is a serial fraudster convicted in England in 2011, [1] and Ireland in 2025, [3] of fraud, deception, and theft. [10] [2] [11] She has been the subject of an episode of Swindled and a 4-episode RTÉ Radio podcast, entitled "The Real Carrie Jade". [12] [13] As a writer, she won a UK£1,000 composition prize from Financial Times/Bodley Head, [14] [5] and a €36,200 grant from the Arts Council or Ireland. [10] [7] [15]

Contents

She moved to Ireland in 2013, [16] working as a writer, and an au pair. [14] [5]

Background and early life

Cookes was born in Gloucestershire in 1988. [4] She attended Denmark Road High School on the outskirts of Gloucester until 2007. [16] [17] She dropped out of a degree course in York University. [4] Her 4-month-old daughter, Martha, died in 2008, an inquest ruled it an accident. [17]

Media depictions

Swindled - "The Vacation Rental"

A 2023 bonus episode of Swindled , entitled "The Vacation Rental", examines Cookes' claims of a terminal illness, and her attempts to defraud Airbnb renters. [18]

The Real Carrie Jade

In 2024, The RTÉ Radio Player produced a 4-episode podcast series, narrated by Justine Stafford about its interactions with and investigations of Cookes. [19] [20] Cookes, who had contacted RTÉ, through its documentary department and Liveline, [21] [22] participated in recordings, claiming to be a disability advocate, as a self-processed sufferer of Huntington's disease. The series investigates these and other claims made by Cookes, and the money she fraudulently received from donors. [11] [20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Phoney surrogate mother avoids jail". Daily Telegraph . 27 October 2011. p. 2. EBSCOhost   8Q253104773 – via EBSCOHOST.
  2. 1 2 3 Kelleher, Sinead (11 February 2025). "Fraudster Samantha Jade Cookes pleads guilty to €60k theft from state after making up illness". Irish Independent .
  3. 1 2 "Convicted fraudster Samantha Cookes jailed for three years at Tralee court". RadioKerry.ie . 5 March 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Denkinson, Katherine (9 December 2022). "'Made My Blood Run Cold': Unmasking a TikTok Creator Who Doesn't Really Exist". Vice.com .
  5. 1 2 3 "The Indo Daily Revisited: Confronted – Serial fraudster 'Carrie Jade Williams' working as au pair in Kildare". Irish Independent . 7 July 2024.
  6. ↑ Lucey, Anne (25 September 2024). "Alleged fraudster Samantha Cookes willing to be deported if it saves the State money, court told". Irish Examiner .
  7. 1 2 Tighe, Mark (7 March 2025). "Arts Council gave €36k in grants to serial fraudster Samantha Cookes using fake name". SundayWorld.com .
  8. ↑ Joyce, Anna (18 June 2024). "The Real Carrie Jade - episode 3 re-cap - I'm Lucy Fitzwilliams!". RTE.ie . Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  9. ↑ Joyce, Anna (9 July 2024). "The Real Carrie Jade - season finale recap - I'm Sadie Harris!". RTÉ.ie . Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  10. 1 2 Sheehy, Paschal (10 March 2025). "Cookes' grant applications were based on 'artistic merit'". RTE News . Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  11. 1 2 Joyce, Anna (28 June 2024). "What happens to the victims of con artists like Carrie Jade?". RTÉ.ie . Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  12. ↑ "Bonus 38: The Vacation Rental". Swindled . Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  13. ↑ "Woman in fraud case falsely claimed she had rare disease". RTÉ News . 19 February 2025.
  14. 1 2 Bruce, Helen (6 March 2025). "Carrie Jade: The conwoman with almost as many aliases as lies". Extra.ie .
  15. ↑ Kelly, Hannah (13 July 2024). "Serial Fraudster Samantha Cookes Has Been Arrested With Almost €60k Social Welfare Fraud" . Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  16. 1 2 Sheehy, Paschal (8 March 2025). "Number of remarkable features to Samantha Cookes case". RTE.ie.ie.
  17. 1 2 Joyce, Anna (12 June 2024). "The Real Carrie Jade - episode 2 re-cap - I'm Samantha Cookes!". RTE.ie . Retrieved 11 March 2025.
  18. ↑ "The Vacation Rental" . Swindled (Podcast). 20 April 2023 – via Spotify.
  19. ↑ "The Real Carrie Jade". Doc on One . 23 January 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  20. 1 2 "The Real Carrie Jade: RTÉ's gripping podcast about the pathological liar Samantha Cookes is hard to turn away from". The Irish Times.
  21. ↑ Stafford, Justine (2024). "The Real Carrie Jade" (Podcast). The Real Carrie Jade. No. 1. RTÉ Radio Player.
  22. ↑ Duffy, Joe (6 March 2025). 6 March 2025 (Radio broadcast). Liveline. RTÉ Radio 1.
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