Cowardly former soapstar jailed for model agency scam after going on the run to Spain

A former TV soap actor, who played a villain, has been jailed for after he went on the run to Spain before his trial for a £13.6 million fraud that conned hopefulmodels.

Ex-Brookside actor Philip Foster, 51, was jailed in his absence for eight and a half years in February 2025 for fraud and money laundering, but hid in Spain before his trial.

The crook, who played villain Christian Wright in the Liverpool soap, was extradited last month, and at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday he was jailed for a further six months for his attempt to evade justice.

During the hearing it emerged that Foster’s wife has died from cancer and Foster’s son Michael was murdered around Christmas last year, according to Anthony Barraclough, defending.

The barrister told the court: “The Spanish have imposed a blanket of secrecy in relation to that.

“He has had a great deal going on, of a terrible nature, but he is nevertheless an absconder.”

Judge David Dixon told Foster that his co-accused had come to court to be sentenced previously.

“You were a coward, you decided to hide and didn’t come and face the music,” he told Foster, who appeared via videolink from HMP Doncaster.

The judge said Foster purchased designer watches, was photographed on yachts and bought his daughter a Porsche, demonstrating “you were living a lifestyle based on the income from this illegal scheme”.

Foster led a crooked operation involving an extensive network of sham modelling agencies that exploited aspiring young models and their parents for more than eight years.

A National Trading Standards (NTS) investigation found that more than 6,000 victims handed over large sums on the false promise of securing paid modelling work in the fraud that he ran from Spain.

His network ran a string of sham agencies and studios in cities including London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Coventry and Nottingham, which was uncovered after a six-year NTS investigation.

Victims were duped into thinking that a model agency was interested in them, with emails telling them they had potential after they responded to social media advertising campaigns.

An invitation to get a “free” test shoot at the photographic studio was used to try to extort money, according to NTS.

They were handed glossy brochures, told that other people like them had been successful and they had passed their studio test, but they would need to buy a photographic portfolio for the modelling agencies who were interested in them.

They were told they had to buy their portfolio photographs from the studio in order to join an agency and become an agency model.

Some of them used credit deals arranged by the fraudsters or expensive payday loans to make the upfront payment.

In return, the victims got poor quality digital photographs that stood no real chance of landing them professional jobs and most did not get paid modelling work.

Lord Bichard, NTS chairman, said: “Foster’s cruel exploits left thousands of victims in serious debt, causing lasting emotional distress and significant financial pressures.”