"Coward" Brookside actor jailed in Sheffield for £13.6 million model agency scam after going on the run
A former TV soap star has been jailed for a model agency scam after fleeing to Spain
A former TV soap actor has been jailed in Sheffield after he went on the run before his trial for a £13.6 million fraud that conned aspiring models.
Ex-Brookside actor, Philip Foster, aged 51, led an 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 fake agencies and studios across the country, including London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Coventry and Nottingham, which was uncovered after a six-year NTS investigation, the court heard.
In February 2025, Foster was jailed in his absence for eight and a half years for fraud and money laundering, but hid in Spain before his trial.
He was later found.
At Sheffield Crown Court, on Friday, October 16, Judge David Dixon said: “You were a coward, you decided to hide and didn’t come and face the music,” he told Foster, who appeared via video link from HMP Doncaster.
Victims were duped into thinking a model agency was interested in them, with emails telling them they had potential after they responded to social media advertising campaigns.
According to the NTS, an invitation to get a “free” test shoot at the photographic studio was used to try to extort money.
The models were told that other people like them had been successful and that they had passed their studio test, but they would need to buy a photographic portfolio for the modelling agencies who were interested in them.
Some even used credit deals arranged by the fraudsters or expensive payday loans to make the upfront payment, and in return, the victims received poor quality digital photographs.
Foster, who played villain Christian Wright in the Liverpool soap, Brookside, was extradited last month and appeared at Sheffield Crown Court to be sentenced.
During the hearing, Mr Anthony Barraclough, defending, told the court that Foster’s wife had died from cancer and his son, Michael, was murdered around Christmas last year.
The barrister said: “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 Dixon told Foster that his co-accused had come to court to be sentenced previously.
The judge said he had even purchased designer watches, was photographed on yachts and bought his daughter a Porsche, demonstrating he was “living a lifestyle based on the income from this illegal scheme”.
Foster was jailed for a further six months for his attempt to evade justice, meaning his total sentence is nine years.
Lord Bichard, Chairman of the National Trading Standards, said: “Foster’s cruel exploits left thousands of victims in serious debt, causing lasting emotional distress and significant financial pressures.