Cleaner conned her best friend and supporters out of £90,000 by pretending she had terminal EYE cancer Catherine Moreton, 59, told friends in Stoke she had just months to live Victims Beverley Lawton, 57, and Paul Bennett, 48, handed over £90,000 Healthy Moreton was actually using money to pay off her own mortgage Judge says the case is 'hugely troubling' with 'shocking circumstances' A cleaner who conned her best friend and other generous well-wishers out of £90,000 by pretending she had terminal cancer has been jailed for two years. Catherine Moreton, 59, who lived in a house worth £130,000 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, told friends she had just months to live after being struck with a rare form of eye cancer. Beverley Lawton, 57, a friend who employed Moreton at her cleaning firm - Klean Kare in the Longton area of the city - lent her £80,000 in the belief it was to pay for expensive private treatment. Jailed: Catherine Moreton (left), 59, told friends she had just months to live after being struck with a rare form of eye cancer. She talked Beverley Lawton, 57, and Paul Bennett (both right), 48, into handing over £90,000 The mother of two even plunged herself into debt in order to help her friend. But healthy Moreton was actually using the money to pay off her own mortgage while her friends thought she was dying. The con artist - who pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud at Stoke Crown Court - also swindled a paraplegic client out of a further £10,000 after she bonded with him while cleaning his home. Moreton continued the scam for almost five years until she was finally rumbled last November when friends noticed she had not lost her hair despite claims she had undergone chemotherapy sessions. Sentencing yesterday, Judge David Fletcher slammed her and said the case was "hugely troubling." He added: "You used that emotive word "cancer" and you said you had cancer in the eye - and it would be a very hard individual who wouldn't respond to that. Any reading of this case reveals a shocking state of circumstances. Grandmother-of-one Mrs Lawton first met Moreton when she started work at her business. They soon became friends and she first lent Moreton £1,000 in 2005 after she said her father had died in a nursing home and she needed money to pay for his care, the court was told. Victim: Beverley Lawton, who was at Stoke Crown Court in Staffordshire to see Catherine Moreton jailed, said the stress of the con had led to the breakdown of her marriage and forced her to lay off employees Then in 2007, Moreton told Mrs Lawton that she was dying of cancer and needed money to help pay for private treatment. From that moment, Moreton began borrowing sums of money ranging from between £200 cash, to cheques for up to £1,500. There are people dying of cancer every day, and she is just walking around pretending to have cancer so she can take money off people to pay her mortgage - she is the scum of the earth Beverley Lawton, victim However, suspicions were raised when her hair did not fall out and she went on cleaning jobs when she supposedly had hospital appointments. Heather Chamberlin, prosecuting, said: "The defendant said the treatment was not available on the NHS and over five years Ms Lawton handed over large sums of money which amounted to something in the region of £80,000. This resulted in Mrs Lawton running up considerable debts of between £30,000 to £40,000. Mrs Lawton, who was in court to see Moreton jailed, said the stress of the con had led to the breakdown of her marriage and forced her to lay off employees. After the case she branded Moreton "evil" and as "the scum of the earth." Caught: Moreton continued the scam for almost five years until she was finally rumbled last November when friends noticed she had not lost her hair despite claims she had undergone chemotherapy sessions Home: Moreton, who lived on this road in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, was actually using the money to pay off her own mortgage while her friends thought she was dying She said: "There are people dying of cancer every day, and she is just walking around pretending to have cancer so she can take money off people to pay her mortgage - she is the scum of the earth. For her to come to me, crying her eyes out, because she said she was dying of cancer, when it was all a lie is just sickening. I thought she was my best friend. The most common eye cancer is ocular melanoma. Also called melanoma of the eye, this develops from pigment-producing cells called melanocytes. Most of these cells begin to grow in the skin, but it is also possible for melanomas to start in other body parts such as the eye. The condition is rare, with only around 500 cases diagnosed in Britain each year - and most cases are found in people in their 50s, according to NHS Choices. Blurred vision, flashing lights and shadows are common symptoms. Almost 85 per cent of those diagnosed with early-stage melanoma will live for at least five years after being diagnosed. Another form of eye cancer is retinoblastoma, which affects children under five. But as the condition is normally caught and treated early in Britain, 98 per cent of children with it are successfully treated. She would come round for a meal at Christmas. She would say "You are my family." I do feel a fool, now, but if it was true, and she had died of cancer, how would I have felt? I didn't want her to die, and I thought I could help, so I did. It gives us some solace that she is now behind bars but I think she should have been given even longer. Because of what she has done my marriage has broken down and I have had to let eight members of staff go. She is evil beyond belief - I hate her. Fellow victim Paul Bennett, 48, met Moreton when she started cleaning his home in Trentham, Stoke. She talked the paraplegic - left disabled after a crash - into handing over around £10,000. He told the court: "I feel naive and a fool. It will be hard to trust people now. The court heard friends and relatives of Mrs Lawton were also duped by Moreton's lies. Her daughter Katrina Lawton, 33, added: "I also believed her story when she was crying to us. She is a manipulative woman. Nicola Bell, defending, told the court Moreton had resorted to the fraud after paying her father's funeral costs left her in debt. She said: "I cannot excuse the inexcusable. In this case there was no extravagant lifestyle - she was trying to repay debts which had spiralled out of control. The court heard Moreton had since paid back about £30,000 to Mrs Lawton and £5,000 to Mr Bennett.