Woman_39_s_Day_Australia_-_January_04_2021

42 WD

Real life

6PAGE

CRIME

SPECIAL

p pp , y

THE FAKE LAWYER

THE DODGY

DOCTOR

Sara Grasso was abogus

barrister who trickedher

family, friends and

Melbourne’s legal

profession. Grassogathered

her legal knowledgeby

crashing universitylaw

lectures and thenawarded

herself fake law degrees

and legal qualifications.

She celebrated her

supposed admissiontothe

Victorian Bar withan

expensive partywhereshe

even donned abarrister’s

robes and wig.

On the wayto

fulfil her life-long

dream, Grasso

conned victims

out of more than

$660,000. Finding

herself on the

wrong side ofthe

courtroom, the

29-year-oldwasjailedin 1995

fora minimumof 18 months.

Hercaseis similartothat

ofLisaMarieBurch,whoin

2014 wasontheotherside

ofthedockinWAwhenshe

wasjailedforposingasa

lawyer.Shetook$69,000

fromfamilieswhobelieved

shecouldhelpthem.

Previously,Burchhad

alsoposedasa cancer

victimandpocketed

donationsgiventosupport

arrristterrss

g

g

e

her hon cancerbattle.

Grasso held

a lavish party

to celebrate

her supposed

admissionto

thebar.

Grasso’s

parents were

also duped by

their daughter.

Several weeks after her breast

enhancement surgery, Rachael

Archer heard her surgeon’s name

on a current affairs program. The

show accused Sydney doctor Les

Blackstock of performing cosmetic

surgery without a licence.

Rachael, 42, was already worried

because she was still in so much pain

after her operation.

“The surgery was horrific. I woke during the

procedure and felt Blackstock ripping my left

breast. My partner could hear me screaming,”

she recalls. “At one point he sat me up, held

up a mirror and I could see the blood and fat

in my boob. He wanted to know if I was

happy with the size.”

After a short time in recovery, a groggy

Rachael was ushered out of Blackstock’s

clinic through a back door. Two weeks after

her “excruciating” surgery, the mum-of-two

was rushed to hospital where it was revealed

she had internal bleeding in both breasts.

“After I saw him on TV, I tried contacting his

clinic but couldn’t get through,” she says.

Rachael paid a $2500 deposit but managed

to avoid paying the remaining $6997 by

cancelling her payment plan.

Earlier this year, Blackstock was struck off

the medical register for seven years, due to

professional misconduct and the complaints of

at least 10 patients like Rachael. He was fined

$255,000 for running a private health facility

and performing treatments without a licence.

Plastic surgeons have told Rachael she has

permanent nerve damage and that it will cost

$40,000 to repair her breasts.

“I’ve had three years living with the trauma

now,” she says. “I have saggy breasts that

I cover up and I still get pain. Some days I’m

at my wits’ end. That man has ruined lives.”

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