A student who manipulated a lecturer into thinking she had terminal cancer, has been jailed for two years and eight months for stalking and harassment.
English lecturer Sally Retallack, 49, says she lost her marriage, home and job after Elisa Bianco duped her with false tales of illness and abuse, a court in the Cornish town of Truro heard.
Bianco first stayed with Retallack after claiming abuse by her mother and step father. The story began to twist and turn from there with Bianco claiming to suffer panic attacks at college – sometimes several times a day – and always calling Retallack for help.
She also said she had been diagnosed with various complex illnesses and eventually that she had just three months to live because of a malignant tumour.
Retallack was so concerned about Bianco that she gave up work and spent £2,000 on fulfilling her bucket list.
Bianco was dropped off at hospital every day for what she said she was treatment but would then sit in a cafe in her pyjamas and dress herself in fake bandages, the court heard.
In sentencing her to two years and eight months in prison the judge said Bianco became an “uninvited cuckoo” in the home and used mind games to drive a wedge between Retallack and her husband which led to them seperate.
Bianco also created a fictitious love interest for Retallack, emailing and speaking in a husky voice on the phone pretending to be a man that did not exist.
The judge described her actions as the “most extraordinary case” he had dealt with in a long time.
“Most chilling was the callous and cruel deception to create a fictitious hospital consultant. You heartlessly manipulated Mrs Retallack’s deepest emotions. No sentence will compensate her.”
Retallack said, in a victim impact statement, that Bianco had torn apart her family. She had recently moved to France to try and piece her life back together.
