Friends raise money for Bristol man injured in Thailand
Mr Eury was in the country to find inspiration and ingredients for his business Gorilla Thai Kitchen, which has two sites in Bristol.He has now been discharged from hospital as an outpatient but is still bleeding on the brain and will not be able to come home for another three to five months."The main thing he needs is money. We've had such a good response today," Mr Bradford said.A crowdfunder has been set up to raise £45,000 but Mr Bradford said the cost of Mr Eury's care might be "way above" that.
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Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Why I forgave the fraudster who scammed me out of £300 for fake festival tickets - after finding her by accident on TikTok
A music fan who was scammed out of £300 for fake concert tickets says she has forgiven the fraudster who conned her – after finding her by accident while browsing videos on TikTok. Bristolian music lover Laura was tricked into buying fake V Festival by one–time serial con artist Jodie Gayet, handing over £300 for two tickets worth £200 each in a deal that was too good to be true. But in an incredible stroke of fortune, she found Ms Gayet 10 years later while browsing TikTok, and reached out to say she had forgiven her after learning that the fraudster had been battling a gambling addiction. The pair met 'face–to–face' for the first time in a video call with MailOnline this week following their chance encounter via social media. Ms Gayet, from Lowestoft, tearfully admitted she had not expected forgiveness after conning Laura and others out of a total of £10,000 for non–existent tickets, for which she was given six months in prison. 'Forgiveness is not something that you ever expect to get when you did the terrible thing I did,' she said. 'I did some bad stuff, but I'm not a bad person.' For Laura, who asked us to use her first name only, it was cathartic to be able to forgive the woman who had stolen from her. She said: 'I felt really stupid and disappointed in myself back then, which passed, but to hear her story now you realise people do make mistakes.' Jodie says she turned to crime to feed a gambling addiction that began when she had a termination at 18, playing online bingo before winning a £33,000 slots jackpot. She spent £8,000 of her winnings and lost the rest chasing her next big win, which never came – so she took out loans to keep playing and cover up the loss. Working at the Chelsea Building Society in Norwich, she then pilfered the bank account of an 89–year–old man with Alzheimer's and his 95–year–old wife, believing they would not notice the money was gone. In all, she stole £19,000 from them. 'I never thought what I was doing was wrong. I wasn't stealing – I was just borrowing this money because I was going to win it back and I would pay it back, and they would never know,' she said. It wasn't long before the theft was discovered and she was sentenced to six weeks' jail time in 2011 at 21, heavily pregnant. She gave birth four days after being freed. But without proper support or counselling for her addiction she found herself craving the next big win again, setting up an account on classified ads site Gumtree with a plan to fund her gambling. She messaged someone selling real V Festival 2014 tickets – which featured the likes of the Killers and Lily Allen on its line–up – and asked for their order confirmation as proof, modifying it to add her name and an old address. Her fake ticket listing, complete with a convincing confirmation, was priced below face value to draw in victims – which is how she and Laura came to cross paths as the music fan hunted out tickets as a gift for a friend. Laura recalled: 'I think it had sold out on the official site and I was looking at eBay, Gumtree... and that's where I saw Jodie's listing.' The confirmation gave the listing an air of legitimacy, she admits. Laura also said she had been taken in by how 'engaged' Jodie was in selling the tickets – which were to be sent by post, long before the advent of the e–ticket. But after sending the cash, Laura was fobbed off with excuses that the tickets had been lost in the post. It then dawned on her that she had been scammed. 'As the event got closer the dialogue changed – her story was changing and changing and it was then that I felt a bit dim,' she admits. Half of Brits see social media as a safe place to buy tickets despite scams More than half of Brits still see social media as a 'safe space' to buy gig tickets despite the fact they offer no protection from fraudsters. A survey conducted by Get Safe Online, a UK online safety resource, found that 17 per cent of people had a negative experience buying tickets through 'unprotected' platforms. But around 54 per cent still see them as a reasonable place to buy tickets. Around 90 per cent of recent Oasis scams unfolded on social media, with fans losing an average of £346 each, according to Lloyds Bank. GSO recommends using reseller sites such as Viagogo, which is listed as a commercial partner on its website, to combat fraud. Its CEO, Tony Neate, says fans need 'safe alternatives' to social media. 'I had to phone my mum and tell her I had been scammed and I had to repurchase the tickets. But Jodie's story had been so believable.' Laura reported the scam to Action Fraud – and once again, the law caught up with Jodie, who it emerged had conned others out of £6,000 with the same trick. She was given a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for two years – but returned to court after pulling the same stunt again a year later in 2015, depriving would–be festival–goers out of another £4,000. It guaranteed her a six–month jail term, with a judge describing her as having a 'nasty dishonest streak', the Eastern Daily Press reported. Her father and brother paid victims back, the court had been told. Jodie served 12 weeks behind bars, serving the rest of her sentence on an electronic tag. It was the wake–up call she had been needing. She now admits: 'I was acting as a very selfish person. I knew what I was doing was wrong and, I'll be honest, I really didn't care what I did to get the money. 'The world could have been on fire and I wouldn't have noticed. Again, I told myself I was just borrowing this money from these people because I would win it back.' Almost a decade on, Jodie now works with anti–fraud body We Fight Fraud to help people spot potential scams, with her own story showing how easy it is to deceive people into handing over money. Among her hot tips are to avoid buying tickets on social media and not to bank transfer - instead buying from primary ticket vendors directly or from secondary resellers that have a guarantee of a refund if the ticket either doesn't arrive or isn't valid for entry. These scams have reared their heads amid the Oasis reunion tour – with mad fer it fans losing a reported £346 each buying fake tickets, according to Lloyds Bank. She shares her experiences of gambling addiction, recovery and imprisonment with 50,000 followers on TikTok – and it's there that fate saw fit to bring she and Laura together again 10 years on. Laura said: 'I was just scrolling through and she appeared on my feed telling her story of the fraud. I thought it sounded familiar... then realised that she was the person who had scammed me. The algorithm got me!' She sent Jodie a message explaining who she was, and the pair reconnected. Jodie even made reparations with a donation to the anti–knife crime charity Mikey's World, founded after teen Mikey Roynon was stabbed to death in 2023. The charity is very close to Laura's heart. And earlier this week, they spoke 'face–to–face' via a video call for the first time, joined by a MailOnline reporter. Laura said sagely: 'People make mistakes, don't they? If we were all crucified for every mistake we make there wouldn't be many of us around, would there? 'Yes, absolutely, I forgive her. It was a long time ago, and what Jodie is doing now, the fact she's working with We Fight Fraud, makes it so easy to forgive her. She only buys festival tickets from official vendors now. 'If something seems too good to be true it probably is,' she concluded. Jodie, who is now a mother to three, has also written a book, Me, Myself and My Addiction, recounting her experiences of gambling addiction and turning to crime. She hopes her story will inspire others to use their own bad experiences to do good in the world. Her voice breaking, she summed up: 'It gives a person hope that you can move on from the past and do good. 'I'm devastated by what I did, even now. I never meant to hurt Laura or any of my victims. 'But it is amazing to have her here and I'm grateful she's in my corner.'
Telegraph
12 hours ago
- Telegraph
Thai monks refuse to evacuate as shells and F-16s fly overhead
In a now deserted town less than 20 miles from the front line of the fighting between Thailand and Cambodia, monks at a usually peaceful temple have endured another bad night's sleep. The boom of artillery erupted throughout the night, with one shell estimated to have landed less than three miles from the temple on Sunday morning. 'Last night it was quite heavy and today at around 8am we heard some loud thuds,' Phra Mahasanong Khantitharo, the abbot, told The Telegraph on Sunday. 'The metal sheet roof and the windows were rattling very strongly this morning.' The south-east Asian neighbours have been fighting since a row over their shared border escalated on Thursday, leading to an exchange of fire and deaths on both sides. Despite the obvious risks to their lives, the monks at this temple and others in the border areas where fighting is raging have refused to budge, saying they owe it to the communities they serve to stay put. 'If I leave, the people who rely on us will lose their spirit. I'm scared too, but I'll just stay here for now, when I can,' Phra Phut Analayo told the Associated Press from a small, cylindrical shelter at a temple just six miles from the border. Thailand and Cambodia are both Buddhist countries and share many traditions and customs as a result. Relations between the two countries are normally peaceful, but the fighting has ignited a wave of nationalist fervour which the monks do not share. 'Cambodians are our neighbours, we should not be fighting,' Phra Mahasanong said. 'I have to say that karma will be the judge of this.' On Sunday, Thailand reported the death of a soldier, bringing its total fatalities to 22, mostly civilians. Cambodia said 13 of its people had been killed, though it was unclear if that included Lt Gen Duong Samnieng, whose death in combat was announced on Sunday. Meanwhile, more than 139,000 people in Thailand have evacuated to safe locations, and more than 79,000 people have fled from three Cambodian provinces. Many border villages are mostly deserted, with many schools and hospitals shut. The international community has called for peace and despite fighting continuing around two ancient, disputed temples in the Dangrek mountains, there were signs on Sunday that the two countries were finally yielding to pressure. A Thai government official said talks between Phumtham Wechayachai, the acting prime minister, and Hun Manet, the Cambodian premier, will begin at 3pm on Monday. They will be hosted by Malaysia, which currently chairs Asean, a regional bloc of south-east Asian countries. Both sides have previously talked of peace, with Cambodia, which has a far weaker military, already proposing a ceasefire. But Thailand has until now maintained that it prefers bilateral talks – perhaps because international arbitration has previously favoured their rival in the territorial dispute – while each side has repeatedly claimed that the other has undermined armistice efforts by continuing to attack civilians. The move towards talks comes after Donald Trump threatened to withdraw the US from critical tariff negotiations unless the two countries stopped fighting. As it stands, Thailand and Cambodia will be hit by a 36 per cent tax on imports from next month – a major economic hit which the countries are trying hard to avoid. The US president on social media: 'Both Parties are looking for an immediate Ceasefire and Peace. They are also looking to get back to the 'Trading Table' with the United States, which we think is inappropriate to do until such time as the fighting STOPS.' Yet whether this will be enough to stop the clashes – which have seen tanks, ground troops, rocket launchers, and F-16 jets deployed – remains to be seen. Dr Paul Chambers, a visiting fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, said the long 'history of antagonism between the two countries' should not be underestimated. He added: 'I do not think that the US efforts to achieve conflict resolution will be successful because Washington has lost a great deal of influence in south-east Asia since the end of the Cold War.' The violence has also fuelled by mounting animosity between two political dynasties once considered close. While control in Cambodia is highly centralised under authoritarian premier Hun Manet, in Thailand the government is weak after a political crisis triggered by a leaked phone call with the Cambodian leader's father, Hun Sen, led to the suspension of Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the prime minister. 'The Thai negotiating team is operating under heavy domestic suspicion,' Ken Lohatepanont, a Thai politics expert at the University of Michigan, wrote in a blog post. 'I am not sure what [they] can achieve that will blunt public criticism in the face of such suspicion, [and] the fact that several Thai civilians and troops have died over the course of the past few days has raised public anger at Cambodia to a fever pitch,' he said. In Sisaket on Sunday, this anger was on full display in deserted villages in the danger zone. Like the monks, some men have seen it as their duty to stay behind despite the risks – a health centre was hit just 10 miles away on Saturday. They told The Telegraph they were there to protect property from looters and 'potential Cambodian spies'. Outside one house destroyed by shelling on Thursday, chickens wandered over mangled metal, and the smell of fuel from charred embers still persisted. Thongsuay Saikaew, the village chief, who lives next door, was lucky his house survived unscathed. 'It's not right to hit civilian places like this, it's rotten,' said the 58-year old. His neighbours who lost their home, he said, were speechless when they saw it had been destroyed. 'This was [a shop too], it was like their livelihood as well as their home. And now it's all gone… I think the Cambodians have to be blamed.' On the other side of the border, Cambodians affected by the fighting told The Telegraph the opposite – that Thailand was the aggressor and at fault. But despite his nationalist rhetoric, Mr Thongsuay is also keen for the fighting to stop. It's not just about safety; every day the clashes continue are a hit to his business, selling cattle. 'It will become very difficult if I can't earn an income soon,' he said. 'Our own government has to find a solution to this situation.'
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Vandalised pitch 'devastating', Bristol Manor Farm FC says
A football club has expressed its "shock and heartbreak" after vandals drove a car onto its pitch and set it alight. One of Bristol Manor Farm's goal posts was destroyed and a large area of grass scorched by the blaze. The perimeter of the pitch was also damaged. The club, which is based in Sea Mills, has now launched a fundraiser to pay for the damage, which it described as "a devastating act of vandalism".Avon and Somerset Police said it had been made aware of a vehicle fire at the club at 11:55 BST on Friday. It added that the fire is being treated as suspicious and enquiries are underway. The club's chairman Jon Line said Manor Farm is a club "that places great emphasis on building communities and helping people enjoy our national game". "This pointless act of vandalism was a deliberate attempt to damage the club," he added."I believe it has had the opposite effect of making everyone highly focused in building a friendly, successful and united club." In a post on its crowdfunding campaign, Bristol Manor Farm said: "Our football club was the victim of a devastating act of vandalism."What should have been a joyful home fixture day quickly became one of shock and heartbreak for our entire community."Urging people to donate, it said: "Over the past few years, we've fought hard to improve our facilities, build a youth pathway, and create something the local area can be proud of."This setback won't stop us. But we need your help." Money raised will be spent on repairs and enhanced security measures for the club's grounds, it added."Let's come together, show what Bristol football is all about and get The Farm fighting fit again," the club incident meant Bristol City Farm's match against Avonmouth earlier had to be hastily switched to their opponent's side beat Avonmouth 2-1. Avon and Somerset Police said officers have attended the scene and CCTV enquiries are underway. It urged any witnesses or anyone with information about the fire to get in contact.
