Lesley Elder, 50, has been jailed for 5 months
A mother who claimed she needed a £2.5m payout from the NHS over a botched operation has been jailed after photos surfaced of her at a hen party in Ibiza.
Lesley Elder, 50, claimed an operation she underwent at a hospital in Nuneaton left her in such pain she couldn't work, travel, or walk unaided.
She demanded the seven-figure sum from the NHS - which awarded her £120,000 after the surgery was found to be have been unnecessary - but has been jailed for five moths after her story of its consequences unravelled in court.
She claimed it made her a reclusive shadow of her former self but photos of her 'partying after midnight' at her daughter's hen do on the island appeared on Facebook.
She was found in contempt of court by Judge Karen Walden-Smith, who said it was an 'attempt to effectively defraud the NHS' out of more than £2m.
Miss Elder was sentenced in her absence after earlier being taken to hospital when she appeared to swallow a handful of pills in court.
Lesley Elder was photographed enjoying her daughter's hen party in Ibiza (above in straw hat) despite having asked the NHS for £2.5m because surgery had left her unable to walk
In one of the photos, in which she appears to be one of two women wearing a 'mother' sash, not only was Elder 'tagged' (left of image) but she herself Liked the photo (right of image)
London's High Court heard that the mother-of-two, from Poole, Dorset, had the operation in 2010 in an attempt to cure a supposed issue concerning her urinary tract.
However, she had been wrongly diagnosed and the operation was 'contraindicated' and 'not necessary', the court heard.
The George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust admitted liability for putting her through the unnecessary surgery.
But it said her claim for more than £2.5m in damages was 'grossly exaggerated' - and a judge ultimately awarded her only £120,000.
In her claim, Miss Elder had said she was severely disabled by the operation, with severe and constant pain in her groin and leg.
She had to use a walking stick to get around, she claimed, and was unable to do many of the normal activities she previously enjoyed.
She was particularly upset that she had not been able to go to her daughter, Tania Bunston's, hen do, she claimed.
She said she needed more than £1m worth of care and support.
But after surveillance by private investigators and searches of social media, the truth about her injuries came to light.
She was photographed in an Ibiza nightclub, wearing a straw hat and sash with her daughter and other women, the court was told.
Miss Elder insisted the trip was not a hen party, but simply a holiday.
However, ruling on her case at a county court in 2017, Judge Iain Hughes QC said the party was women-only, all of them wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the words 'Tania's hen party'.
