The Mother of All Cons 'fairy godmum' who duped One Direction into believing her daughter was dying from a brain tumour reinvents herself under a fake name as a globe trotting social media influencer

By JAMES FIELDING, SENIOR REPORTER Published: 12:45, 21 June 2026 | Updated: 12:59, 21 June 2026 She's the 'controlling and manipulative' mother whose daughter died in mysterious circumstances after hundreds of thousands of pounds in donations went missing from the charity she set up to help sick children. Mother-of-five Jean O'Brien, 71, is facing calls for a police investigation to be opened into the death of daughter Megan Bhari whose faked brain tumour duped pop superstars One Direction and a host of celebrities into passionately supporting their cause. Funds donated to the Believe in Magic charity - which was set up by the mother and daughter to fund fairytale trips for seriously and terminally ill children and their families - were found to have gone straight into O'Brien's bank account and spent on private jets and luxury holidays. O’Brien has not been seen publicly for almost a decade after going into hiding when her web of lies began to unravel around the time of her daughter’s death. But now the Mail has tracked her down to discover an extraordinary second act in her strange life: she has now become a lifestyle influencer to an army of ‘silver surfer’ older social media users, who have no idea of her dark past. And O’Brien has assumed a new identity to keep her shocking past concealed from neighbours in the idyllic west country village where she now lives. O’Brien is back in the public consciousness because of a hit documentary about her called The Mother of All Cons which sheds fresh light on the disturbing case of her and her parenting of tragic Megan. When the Mail visited her home this week, O'Brien refused to answer her door but had instead left a note hanging out of her letterbox addressed to ‘Journalist’. Inside was a note which read: ‘The documentary was a complete fabrication. ‘I will not have an interview with you now or at any time. Please leave, thank you.' Jean O'Brien and her daughter Megan Bhari faked a terminal brain tumor to dupe celebrities -including One Direction - and raise hundreds of thousands of pounds Megan (far left) and her mother O'Brien (right) faked a brain tumour to con pop stars and fans out of £400,000 to pay for trips to Disney World. Here the pair are pictured at the Cinderella Ball with One Direction singer Louis Tomlinson and his mother Johannah Deakin O'Brien and her daughter Megan's case is under renewed scrutiny after a shocking three-part documentary called The Mother of All Cons shed fresh light on the disturbing situation Friends and relatives are now convinced Megan genuinely believed she was seriously ill after her mother allegedly organised fake morphine prescriptions using forged signatures.  Shortly after Megan died in March 2018 aged just 23 from an unrelated condition, O'Brien retreated from public view. Now the Daily Mail can reveal for the first time the extraordinary life of adventure she has been leading ever since - jet-setting around the world on Shirley Valentine-style solo trips while reinventing herself as a social media influencer for the over 60's. Clearly putting all her troubles behind her, O'Brien has boasted how she has finally been given the freedom to create the life she always dreamed of and has spent the last eight years embarking on a series of extraordinary adventures. Her wanderings have taken her from the Caribbean to the Arctic Circle. Revelling in her new life, she bragged of her time spent 'dancing, dreaming and adventuring' adding: 'I swam with turtles in Barbados, danced in the rain in The Rain Forest. 'I stayed at a Buddhist monastery... swam in The Blue Lagoon in Iceland, slid down a mountain in a basket and drank from an ice glass in an ice bar in Norway. 'I have met so many wonderful people and had the most incredible time and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.' O'Brien added: 'I count my blessings every single day. I don't think I could ever have imagined my life being as wonderful as it is now.' Away from her travels, O'Brien has sold up her Surrey home and is now living in a 400-year-old cottage next to a church in an idyllic village in the West Country, we can reveal. Megan's half sister Nina, 43, told the BBC documentary how her mother moved to France after Megan's inquest saying: 'From that point, Jean then vanished. She cut contact with everyone'. Nina hinted at her mother's new life saying: 'She's reinvented herself using a fake name. There's no mention of Believe in Magic. 'She does mention at times about caring for someone and losing someone but that is the only mention of Meg.' Nina, who remains haunted by the tragedy, added: 'For a long time I've really wanted to get some answers from Jean but then I kind of realised she was never going to tell me the truth. 'I feel like with everything that I have, all of this information that I've got together, I should be able to take this to the police, that someone should listen and take it seriously. 'I don't know about closure but what I want and what I hope for is that Meg gets that justice that she deserves. 'She was a child when all of this started. This wasn't her fault. 'She didn't really have a voice but what I can do is make people listen to Meg's story and be that voice for Megan so that nobody has to go through even a fraction of what Meg went through.' In contrast to Nina's torment, O'Brien has made it clear she has moved on from her past and is making her 'own world a lovely place to be'. She said: 'Every morning I wake up thankful, and grateful, for what has been in my life. 'For those I have mourned, would I rather they had not been in my life to save me from pain? Of course not. I will take the pain a thousand-fold. 'Each difficulty I overcame has taught me something, and I have become stronger, braver and more capable than I ever imagined. 'Age gives us the wonderful gift or wisdom, more precious than any amount of gold.' For the past two years, we can reveal O'Brien has been secretly chronicling her exploits on a popular online magazine and community dedicated to empowering women over 60 called Sixty and Me. Using the pseudonym Lily Bradshaw she is described on the platform as having had 'an interesting and varied career' spending 20 years as a psychotherapist and part time lecturer, followed by 20 years of writing educational courses. Her profile adds: 'Now she is enjoying semi-retirection writing books and articles that interest her, mostly about having fun and enjoying life. She has spent the last two years travelling solo.' Her articles touch on an array of subjects from offering advice on health and finance issues to senior dating and hobbies. While she addresses the loss of friends and loved ones - giving advice as to how older people can come to terms with grief - O'Brien steers clear of mentioning Megan or the past scandal surrounding the charity. She revealed she built herself 'an invisible cloak, which I call my Angel Wings' to help her overcome her troubles. O'Brien wrote: 'Inside it, nothing can hurt me. It is my shield against the world and allows me time to rest, think, become stronger, and work out a way forward.' She does, however, bizarrely speak of her devastating loss following the death of her pet dog - which she described as 'a huge blow' saying it had left her 'feeling lonely' for the first time in her life. In a post written in November 2024, O'Brien writes how 'aching joints, wrinkles and always looking for a place to pee when I am out' are among the downsides of getting older but added that 'the upsides are pretty amazing'. Megan founded the Believe in Magic charity in 2011 to help children suffering from severe or terminal illnesses... but over the years large amounts of money would disappear from the charity's accounts. Here O'Brien is pictured with Louis Tomlinson at a charity fundraiser When Megan announced she was seriously ill, suspicious families who contributed to her treatment learned that they had paid for a £600-a-night luxury villa DisneyWorld Those suspicious parents who had donated to Megan's fund to get treatment in the US hired a private investigator who took photos of O'Brien and Megan getting off a boat at Southampton from New York in 2016 with their luggage piled high She wrote: 'I am Me for the first time in my adult life. 'Not just a mum, wife, friend, colleague, who wants to make everyone else happy. I am free to be me. 'I have also learned how to recognise what is important, but even more valuable, what isn't. 'If it will not affect my life in a month's time, I don't worry about it. 'Letting go of things that don't serve our intentions enables space for new things to come into our lives. 'I have always been kind to others but have now taught myself to be kind to me too. I know that I matter, which feels a little strange as I didn't really consider that before.' Outlining her life journey in recent years she wrote: 'When the pandemic began, I was staying in a little cottage in France but had to move. 'I was unable to travel back to England, so I bought an abandoned and very rundown house and set about putting a little love back into it. 'With no electricity, running water, bathroom or even a toilet, I had my work cut out! 'But it gave me time to focus on what was important, and the seemingly daily toll of the bell at the church was a constant reminder that life can be very fragile. 'As I started to bring this ramshackle house back to life, it felt as if I was being reborn too. 'I marvelled at the changes of the season, relished spending hours watching wildlife, enjoyed swimming and paddle boarding in the nearby lake, and seemed to find a new perspective on life. 'Returning back to England, where I had sold my other property, I rented a little shack on the beach and considered what I wanted to do with my life. 'I could pretend I was being very philosophical and able to make well-considered plans, but in truth, everything kind of just happened for me.' O'Brien told how the death of her 14-year-old pet companion hit her hard and she decided to set off on a new set of adventures to cheer herself up. She wrote: 'One night, feeling a little sorry for myself, and after a couple of glasses of wine, I found myself booking a cruise to Norway. 'I had been to Norway before, but not on a cruise, and waking up to see this huge ship make its way through the majestic fjords with snow capped mountains took my breath away. Megan was pictured with Harry Styles' mother Anne Twist - who even completed a gruelling 10-day mission to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in September 2012 to raise cash for the charity Louis Tomlinson was said to have donated £2m after his mother Johannah Deakin helped to organise a star-studded Cinderella Ball for the charity at the Natural History Museum in 2015 'The scenery was absolutely spectacular and seemed to fill my soul with its beauty. I had an incredible time and within three weeks of returning to the beach, I had booked another trip. 'I spent that first winter in Spain, meeting more people than I had done in the last decade and really enjoying myself. 'I went to beach parties, travelled around Spain with people I met, helped out in friends' bars and generally just had a great time. 'This was what made me happy, and I wasn't ready to give up yet. 'When I returned to England, I made the decision to spend the next year traveling full time. 'I swam in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, danced in the rain in The Rain Forest, slid down the side of a mountain in a basket, drank from an ice glass in an ice bar, stayed with Buddhist Monks in a stunning temple, and swam with turtles in Barbados. 'I booked everything last minute and as cheap as possible. In fact, I challenged myself to spend the same, or less, as renting a small flat and living in the UK. My budget was £1,500 per month. 'Returning to England, I rented a beautiful old cottage in a pretty little village in the West Country. 'I never really expected to fall in love with it as I have, and though I still get itchy feet, I love my life here. 'My new neighbours are creative and lovely - artists, film makers, musicians and me… the lady who loves to write. 'So, if your life is not as you want it to be, why not take a chance and create the life you really want. 'We are not on this beautiful earth for long and most of our younger years are often spent being busy and caring for others. 'Maybe it's time to invest some of that love and energy into yourself? 'Think of something you are passionate about - travel, writing, painting, cooking, photography, the choice is yours. 'Then take that first step to making your dream a reality. Book the flight, start a class, learn new skills, just do it! A year from now, you will thank yourself that you did.' O'Brien described how after moving into her new cottage in early 2024 she spent the summer re-decorating the property before going on to reward herself for her efforts with another holiday. This time she headed off to Crete, which she described as being her first trip abroad 'since giving up full time solo travelling.' She went on to compare herself with the eponymous character in the 1989 romantic comedy movie Shirley Valentine. O'Brien wrote: 'Sitting by the beach in a little taverna, sipping a cool drink and watching the world go by, it was easy to see why Shirley Valentine escaped her humdrum life to move to Greece. 'Crete is truly beautiful with stunning mountains as backdrop, olive groves, warm blue seas and a welcome to match.' Unfortunately not all went well during her travels as O'Brien revealed that during her time at the monastery she tore a meniscus while carrying sacks of rice which ended in her having to undergo a knee replacement operation in February this year. It's all a far cry from her life back in 2012 when she and daughter Megan, then aged 16, set up Believe in Magic. O'Brien is said to have relentlessly 'pulled at heart strings' of celebrities by bombarding them with messages - sending more than 500 to One Direction in the space of nine months. In the fallout from the death of Megan, her mother O'Brien moved to France. Fast forward six years and she has now reinvented herself as a social media influencer for the 'silver surfers' and boasts of 'solo' travelling trips around the world O'Brien has changed her name to 'Lily Bradshaw' and runs the 'Sixty + Me' blog where she boasts how she has finally been given the freedom to create the life she always dreamed of O’Brien has assumed the new identity as Lily Bradshaw to keep her shocking past concealed from neighbours in the idyllic west country village where she now lives (pictured) The tactic worked after Anne Twist, the mother of Harry Styles championed it - even completing a gruelling 10-day mission to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in September 2012 to raise cash for the charity. Bandmate Louis Tomlinson was said to have donated £2 million after his own mother Johannah Deakin helped to organise a star-studded Cinderella Ball for the charity at the Natural History Museum in London in 2015. Joannah tragically died from leukaemia aged just 43 the following year. Other pop stars including Taylor Swift, Michael Bublé, and Ed Sheeran also supported the charity, as well as the footballers Lionel Messi and Didier Drogba. Then Prime Minister David Cameron invited Megan to No 10 in 2015 to present her with an award for her work as an 'outstanding volunteer'. Parents of sick children became suspicious about where funds were going and hired private investigators to carry out a probe after the authorities failed to act. The families had discovered that after O'Brien had accompanied Megan to America to seek treatment when she allegedly became gravely ill, they had ended up staying for up to five months in a £600-a-night luxury villa at Disneyworld in Florida in 2016. Throughout that summer, O'Brien had appealed to supporters to raise funds for her daughter saying she had '16 sources of infections' and severe sepsis and at one point had been given just a 10 per cent chance of surviving the next seven days. After they returned to the UK aboard the Queen Mary 2, Cunard's flagship ocean liner, the pair were filmed laughing and chatting excitedly by investigators as they strolled past porters pushing luggage trollies piled high with suitcases and Disney souvenirs. The following year the Charity Commission froze Believe in Magic's accounts after a probe found that cash withdrawals totalling £133,000 had been made in the year to November 2015 and £156,000 in 2016. Between December 2015 and May 2016, £108,786 had been electronically transferred to one of the charity's trustees. Within a year Megan was dead. An inquest in November 2018 revealed she had never suffered a brain tumour. A coroner ruled she died from an abnormality of the rhythm of the heart - acute cardiac arrhythmia - due to fatty liver disease, which was likely related to Megan's high body mass index. But it has since emerged that Megan - who had been taken out of school aged 13 - had for years been taking dangerously high weekly doses of liquid morphine. Despite the NHS cutting off her prescription in 2015, Megan continued to be described with doses three times higher than the maximum recommended amount from prescriptions with forged signatures. She obtained the medication from Harrods until a suspicious pharmacist raised the alarm. O'Brien also contacted the wholesalers who supply Harrods pretending to be from their pharmacy to bulk order morphine, it's claimed. She was eventually interviewed by police over the forged prescriptions but she allegedly blamed Megan and no criminal charges were brought against her. O'Brien also reportedly said it was Megan who handled the accounts of their charity which was shut down in 2020. Meanwhile O'Brien has continued her travelling and her musings writing in one blog: 'The freedom getting older brings can be exhilarating. When Megan died in 2018, at the age of 23 a coroner found that she never suffered from a brain tumour - iInstead she died from an acute cardiac arrhythmia caused by fatty liver disease 'We have worked all our lives, maybe raised a family, cared for others. 'We have cooked, cleaned, taxied, wiped noses, kissed scraped knees and hugged away tears. 'It has been a joy, a real pleasure, but now that we are older, we have a little time to do things for ourselves. And what wonderful adventures there are to be had!' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. 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