Serial cancer liar Hanna Dickinson’s bid to get out of jail early

A woman who lied to her family, friends and Centrelink about having cancer to get money for herself has aired her jail complaints with an appeals court.

A woman who repeatedly lied about having cancer – to her friends and family and to Centrelink – is trying to get out of jail early.

Hanna Dickinson told the Victorian Court of Appeal on Tuesday through her lawyer that she should spend less time in prison for welfare fraud because of media coverage of her actions.

She was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, to be released after one year with a three year good behaviour order, by the County Court in November on the charge of obtaining a financial advantage from the Commonwealth.

She had ripped off Centrelink by falsely claiming to have cancer in an elaborate ruse.

Hanna Dickinson obtained about $100,000 from Centrelink and $40,000 from family and friends by pretending to have cancer but was caught out. Picture: Supplied

It followed her being sentenced on seven counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception in 2018 because of lying to her loved ones about being terminally ill in order to get them to give her more than $40,000 for fake treatment.

Her lawyer Brett Sonnet said it was noted that reporting on her cancer con had “affected her reputation”.

She pocketed more than $100,000 of taxpayers’ money by claiming the disability support pension between 2014 and 2018, lodging fraudulent medical reports to back up her lies.

She submitted reports from two doctors to Centrelink but those doctors later testified they had never seen the reports she submitted.

Mr Sonnet said media coverage of her crimes had “operated to the detriment of (her) mental health”.

Judge Stephen Kaye said Dickinson‘s offending was “extraordinary”, including lying to her mother about having cancer.

“Why should that not provoke public condemnation?” he said.

Mr Sonnet said appearing in the media could “significantly increase (Dickinson’s) risk of suicide”.

Hanna Dickinson appeared in the media after her cancer con was revealed through the courts. Picture: Nine

Crown lawyer Krista Breckweg said there was media coverage of her 2018 sentence for lying to her family and friends yet Dickinson continued to lie to Centrelink.

“She had the opportunity to desist from her offending,” she said.

“She wasn’t impoverished, she wasn’t unemployed.

“It was to fund an extravagant lifestyle.

“She got an adrenaline rush.”

Mr Sonnet also argued Dickinson’s sentence was “manifestly excessive” and that she had experienced “hardship” in jail because of COVID-19 restrictions.

Justice Kaye will decide this week if Dickinson can appeal her sentence.