Britain’s ‘most evil mother’ who pretended her young child was severely ill to gain publicity and financial reward has claimed she was ‘only guilty of putting my son first’.
Lisa Hayden-Johnson, 52, forced her son Matthew into a wheelchair and gave him unnecessary drugs to win sympathy from celebrities and charitable donations.
The mother-of-two from Brixham in Devon connected him up to an oxygen tank as part of the fabrication and met Queen Camilla, Sir Tony Blair and Simon Cowell.
But her deception came crashing down when health workers and school staff told police of their concern – leading to her being jailed for more than three years in 2010.
Now, Ms Hayden-Johnson has spoken on camera for the first time since her release in a new Channel 4 documentary called ‘Love You To Death’ airing tomorrow. Her eyes, hands and back are the only parts of her body shown during the programme.
In a trailer shared with the Daily Mail, she says of Matthew’s birth: ‘I always wanted to be a mum. He was such a happy baby. It was the most amazing thing.’
Ms Hayden-Johnson then adds: ‘I’ll answer everything that you can possibly throw at me. The only thing I was guilty of was putting my son first, and I don’t regret that.’
The documentary also hears from Matthew and his sister Laura as well as doctors, police and relatives about how she subjected him to lengthy and enduring cruelty.
Lisa Hayden-Johnson, 52, of Brixham, Devon, pretended her son Matthew needed a wheelchair
Matthew had an oxygen tank which was carted around on a Thomas the Tank Engine trolley
Lisa Hayden-Johnson poses with her husband and their children Matthew and Laura
Laura – who has complex PTSD because of nightmares featuring Matthew’s cries as his feeding tubes are changed – tells the programme: ‘I can still hear him screaming.’
During the pretence, Ms Hayden-Johnson received free tickets to ITV’s The X Factor, thousands in cash donations and benefits, went on free cruises and lobbied for Matthew to receive a national GMTV bravery award.
But she was organising a regime of medical, physiological and psychological mistreatment – amounting to round-the-clock torture for the boy.
Ms Hayden-Johnson frequently described Matthew as ‘the most ill child in Britain’ – and he became convinced he was chronically ill.
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She subjected him to 325 medical encounters – including inserting a feeding tube into his stomach under general anaesthetic. He had a total of nine GAs.
Ms Hayden-Johnson also claimed Matthew suffered from illnesses such as diabetes, food allergies, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis and an intolerance to sunlight.
After being examined by medics in Devon, Bristol and London, she then forced Matthew to go to school in a wheelchair – even though he could run around with his friends.
Ms Hayden-Johnson also made him wear sunglasses to protect his eyes and a bright yellow and green hat so he could be pulled to safety in case of an emergency.
She wore a green nurse’s uniform at home and filled Matthew’s bedroom with medical supplies and oxygen cylinders – with one expert telling the documentary that the room was ‘like a ward’.
Ms Hayden-Johnson even increased his blood sugar levels so tests would back her claim that he had diabetes.
Together, they met Royal Family members including Camilla, the then-Duchess of Cornwall who gave him a ‘Children of Courage’ medal, and Sarah Ferguson, then Duchess of York – as well as a series of other celebrities and the casts of BBC shows Casualty and EastEnders.
Ms Hayden-Johnson also claimed a total of about £130,000 in benefits.
But when Matthew was six, police arrested her after health professionals and school staff met and discussed their concerns.
Lisa Hayden-Johnson has spoken on camera for the first time since her release from jail
Matthew, now 27, also appears in the documentary which investigates his mother’s deception
Matthew’s sister Laura, 27, has nightmares featuring screams as his feeding tubes are changed
Following the start of an inquiry, Ms Hayden-Johnson wrongly said she had been raped near her home.
But, just as a suspect was about to be arrested, she confessed it was another lie – and later admitted child cruelty as well as perverting the course of justice over the rape claim.
Police then discovered holiday videos of Matthew on a cruise ship running around in his swimming trunks and eating large meals.
When Ms Hayden-Johnson was arrested, Matthew was initially taken by social services to live with foster carers.
But he was later moved back with his sister Laura to live in Sheffield with their father, a supermarket manager who was initially taken in by his wife’s deception.
Their father soon separated from Ms Hayden-Johnson – who now has a new husband – and does not appear in the documentary.
In the present day, Matthew, now 25, works in finance and Laura, now 27 – who was diagnosed with complex PTSD – has a job in childcare.
When Ms Hayden-Johnson was jailed aged 35 at Exeter Crown Court for three years and three months, judge Stephen Wildblood told her: ‘There are five adjectives which describe you.
‘Cruel, manipulative, perverse, disordered and pitiful. Your cruel conduct traversed the fundamental rules of nature and nurture.’
Lisa Hayden-Johnson and Matthew at the Children of Courage Awards at Westminster Abbey
Matthew, who was six when his mother was arrested, sits on the tank in front of his sister Laura
Lisa Hayden-Johnson was jailed in January 2010 for faking her son’s severe illnesses
Devon and Cornwall Police also said at the time that Ms Hayden-Johnson ‘constantly denied being cruel to her son’ and had never apologised for or explained her actions.
The Press dubbed her Britain’s ‘most evil mother’ – while Detective Constable Mark Uren described her as a ‘cruel, manipulative, evil mother who constantly lied to the medical professionals that her son was the sickest child in Britain’.
Ms Hayden-Johnson is one of Britain’s most notable cases of Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another (FDIA) or Fabricated or Induced Illness (FII), formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
This is defined by the NHS as a form of child abuse where a parent or carer exaggerates, fabricates or deliberately induces physical or mental health symptoms in a child.
The new programme comes two months after another case of suspected FII was documented by the BBC about Megan Bhari, whose mother helped her fake a brain tumour to con Brits out of £400,000 to pay for trips to Disney World.
The girl founded the Believe in Magic charity aged 16 in 2011 to help ‘other’ children suffering from severe or terminal illnesses, and ran it with her mother Jean O’Brien, 72 – receiving the backing of various music stars.
But Megan died in 2018 from heart failure – which saw an inquest confirm she did not have a brain tumour after all – and investigations later claimed the girl was in fact also a victim after allegedly being duped into believing she was ill by her mother.
‘Love You To Death’ airs on Channel 4 at 9pm tomorrow
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