A wedding planner who fleeced 24 couples, an ex-husband and her own boyfriend out of more than £60,000 now has only £600 to her name.
Dana Twidale, 44, has to repay one victim just £1.74 after scamming brides and bridegrooms across Yorkshire out of their wedding savings between August 2017 and July 2019.
After being exposed she fled to Benidorm, where she was photographed sunbathing while the victims tried to save their wedding ceremony.
Twidale from east Hull admitted 26 counts of fraud, and was sentenced by Hull Crown Court to five years imprisonment in July.
On Wednesday, however, her case came back to light at a Proceeds of Crime hearing. She appeared before the court via video link, from New Hall Prison in Wakefield.
Dana Twidale was the one who ruined the weddings for 24 couples. She has now been given a small amount to pay back after she blew all her money.
Twidale conned multiple brides and grooms out of money before their big days before fleeing the country
Dale Brook, prosecuting, told the court that Twidale had pocketed £60,263 from her scams.
However, he added that assets available to her had been valued at a ‘derisory’ £600 – money frozen in a bank account.
According to the court, she has no house, no address and no car.
Judge Mark Bury jokingly said that it was an absurd statement.
He added that, if provisional compensation estimates were correct, he would ‘quite like to see the face’ of one woman who might get just ‘£1.74 in the post’ as her compensation.
The £600 figure was already in the possession of police because it is a ‘restrained’ bank account.
Brook demanded that the money should be used for compensation to the victims.
The hope is that Twidale will be able to use any additional compensation if he or she acquires wealth in the future.
This money would be transferred to the victims, not the court.
The judge told Twidale that the crime benefit figure was £60,263, but added: ‘You don’t have anywhere near that in assets.
Twidale was seen sunbathing in Benidorm (Spain) while duped couple tried to recuperate the money she had conned.
‘The only assets the police have been able to identify is £600 in a Nationwide bank account and that money is restrained already and it will be used to satisfy this sum and it will be defrayed as compensation to the victims of your crime.
“The money is in the hands already of those who require it.”
Twidale will have 28 days to pay the £600 or face seven days in prison in default.
In July, Twidale was told that she saw victims including her ex-husband back in Hull, after the money ran out.
According to reports, she was seen at several take-outs in the last year prior to her arrest.
Twidale claimed to police that she was in debt from her business, and had turned to gambling to recoup her losses.
It was declared by the court The crooked wedding coordinator was paid by 24 couples who saved them thousands of pounds.
They were shocked to find empty cakes and marquees as they approached the wedding.
Conned spouses have since spoken about their heartbreak and the financial loss they sustained.
Nicky and Jason Asquith said the £2,247 mentioned in court as the amount they had lost was far less than they had ended up paying.
Twidale scammed Jason and Nicky Asquith. According to Twidale, she appeared ‘approachable and professional’ but then disappeared, giving them two days to arrange their wedding plans.
They were attracted to the company’s online advertisements and met its boss.
Nicky (33), a NHS pharmacist said that she felt as if she had known Nicky for a lifetime. Her kindness and generosity were so contagious and she was always so kind and helpful.
It just proves how deceitful and calculating she is. We wanted a summer party and a simple marquee. We invited 104 friends. It would be so nice.
Harrogate couple from North Yorkshire didn’t know anything was amiss until the day of their service, when their planner did not show up at rehearsal.
Another couple, who paid £550 to Twidale for wedding decorations, also only became aware of the fraud the night before their wedding day.
A photographer contacted them and alerted them about the social media complaints. Twidale was believed to have fled the region.
According to the couple, they felt devastated and had to borrow money from their family in order pay for the wedding.