Spanish fake kidnap mother jailed

A Spanish woman has been found guilty of staging the fake kidnapping of her two children seven times in order to obtain ransom money from her husband.

Over five years, Josefa Sanchez Vargas conned her estranged husband out of more than 600,000 euros (£535,000), saying she had to pay the kidnappers.

But he eventually became suspicious, and hired a detective to investigate.

Sanchez Vargas has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. Two accomplices have also been given jail terms.

The provincial court in Madrid heard how she invented increasingly bizarre stories behind the kidnappings.

The first time, in 2001, she told her husband, identified only as Pedro GM, that strangers had broken into the family home to take her daughter and had demanded a ransom of 30,000 euros.

He then handed over another 48,000 euros the following year, believing the girl had been kidnapped again.

In 2003, Sanchez Vargas said her son had been kidnapped by clothing dealers to whom she owed money. Mr GM agreed to pay the "debt" of 36,000 euros.

Then in 2004, Mr GM paid out 54,000 euros, believing his son was being held by drug dealers.