A woman has been ordered to pay a sum to her widowed neighbour after defrauding him out of £670 in fake Glastonbury tickets.
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Paul Kelly, who had lost his wife back in 2021, shared that he had hoped that attending the legendary music festival would help “get him out of the house”. His neighbour, Holly Griffin from East Pennard in Somerset then scammed him out of over £670 for fake tickets to Glastonbury.
While appearing at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court, Griffin admitted to fraud by false representation. She was fined £200 and ordered to pay Kelly £750 in compensation.
As reported by GB News, both Kelly and Griffin live roughly three miles from the festival site making them entitled to free admission. However, Griffin deceived her widowed neighbour for eight months, offering Kelly three tickets at the price of £672.50 for the stacked 2023 music bash.
The crowd watch Sir Elton John perform on the Pyramid stage during day 5 of Glastonbury Festival 2023 Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 25, 2023 in Glastonbury, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Glastonbury 2023 saw the likes of Sir Elton John, the Arctic Monkeys, Rick Astley, Foo Fighters, The Chemical Brothers, Manic Street Preachers, Lana Del Rey, Lizzo and more perform during the annual festival at Worthy Farm.
According to The Telegraph, Griffin was only given two out of the six tickets she had requested and still continued to deceive Kelly. The court heard that Griffin strung on Kelly for eight months, with the latter receiving “flirtatious” messages and a “false relationship”, with Griffin knowing that he had lost his wife recently.
Kelly became aware of the fraud and false Glastonbury tickets on the eve of 2023. In his victim impact statement, Kelly said: “I lost my wife in 2021, I had been struggling to get myself out of the house. [Since the fake tickets] I have struggled to trust anyone, I feel ashamed and an idiot.”
Kerry Richardson, prosecuting, told magistrates: “In Griffin’s own account she said she knew those tickets were not available from February 2023 but it is the Crown’s case she advertised them fraudulently from the start. She continued to contact Mr Kelly right up until the day of the festival. As a result he was at a loss of £627.50.”
Richardson continued: “In relation to the emotional upset, Griffin knew his wife had died previously and continued to contact him as if they were in a relationship.”
Griffin told the court she had “stuck her head in the sand” and was trying to avoid conflict with her neighbour. “As soon as I found out I could not come up with the tickets I should have told Mr Kelly,” she said. “I would have told Mr Kelly back in February but I could not deal with any more conflict.”
“The most serious factor is the breach of trust… there was very considerable distrust,” District Judge Timothy Pattinson said while sentencing Griffin. “You have told me you are very remorseful, I accept that is the case.”
an installation called “Carhenge” as a reference to Stonehenge on the first day of the Glastonbury festival. (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
In other news, Neil Young has been announced as a Glastonbury 2025 headliner after overturning his decision to pull out of the festival due to creative differences.
Elsewhere, Rod Stewart was announced as the performer who will play the Sunday afternoon Legends Slot. Nile Rodgers & Chic later shared by accident that they would also be returning to the festival this summer.
Other rumoured headliners include Olivia Rodrigo, Sam Fender, The 1975, Taylor Swift and Stevie Wonder. The full line-up for the festival is usually shared in March.
Last November, tickets for Glastonbury 2025 sold out in just 32 minutes, with the festival making use of a new queuing system for tickets.
The upcoming instalment will mark the last before Glastonbury takes a fallow year in 2026. Visit here for more information on how to get tickets to Glastonbury, pricing information and more.
2024’s festival was headlined Dua Lipa, Coldplay and SZA, with other memorable sets from the likes of Shania Twain, Little Simz, Fontaines D.C. and IDLES.
The post Glastonbury neighbour scammed recently bereaved widow out of £670 fake tickets appeared first on NME.
