A STAG-DO party for a Swindon rugby league player was left £7,500 out of pocket after claims that a pal spent the cash.
One member of the party heard the news as he was flying halfway across the world from New Zealand to be with his friend on the special trip.
And the groom’s stepfather was already checked in to a hotel at Gatwick ready to fly out on Thursday when he heard.
A friend of the groom is alleged to have taken the funds earmarked for the Las Vegas trip and booked nothing.
Now, the family of former Swindon St George head coach Ben Whincup are fundraising £6,000 to try and help refund the nine-member stag-do party, some of whom had travelled thousands of miles to be with the 31-year-old on the trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas. As the Adver went to press last night, £500 had been donated on fundraising website GoFundMe.
Police say they are investigating the alleged theft.
Ben, who has been playing rugby league since the age of 14, said yesterday he had mixed emotions: “It’s hard. You’ve never expect anything like this would ever happen.
“Going to Las Vegas was something I’ve always wanted to do.
“The money raised is going to make sure the lads who were booked will get something back.”
Rather than the trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas, Ben is this weekend travelling to Newcastle for the celebrations. He is marrying fiancé of over two years, Emma, in Swindon next month.
“We were all so shocked. You just wouldn’t expect your friend to do that,” said Ben’s mum Sharon Fielden, 48, from Yorkshire.
She was hundreds of miles away from her son when she heard the trip was off: “I couldn’t even go round and give him a big hug.
“I felt so hopeless. It was devastating, such a shock.”
Sharon set up an online fundraiser on website GoFundMe.
“The wedding is only four weeks away and today, instead of flying off for the long awaited holiday they will be travelling back home, sitting at home wondering how this could happen,” she wrote on the site.
“Isn’t this something that only happens in crappy soap operas or Jeremy Kyle.
“They had all saved for over a year and for most of them it was a massive stretch to save for it. One friend was travelling from New Zealand at a cost of over £2,000.
“Last night, we found out the that so-called friend who had organised the trip has stolen all the funds and not booked anything. Three family members had already travelled to London and one was mid-flight from New Zealand.”
A friend in need?
A friend in need?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: A friend in need?
Good thing it was a friend and not an enemy...A friend of the groom is alleged to have taken the funds earmarked for the Las Vegas trip and booked nothing.
Or he probably would have gone around amd burned all their houses down too...
Last edited by Lord Jim on Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: A friend in need?
Safer and more efficient that flying to LV and being swindled there. Should be an option for anyone planning a LV vacation. "click here if you just want us to take your money now".
yrs,
rubato
yrs,
rubato