SHEFFIELD: Former Brookside actor Philip Foster has been sentenced to nine years in prison for running a modelling fraud that defrauded more than 6,000 aspiring models and their families of £13.6 million.
The 51-year-old, who played Christian Wright in the Liverpool-based soap opera, had previously been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison in February 2025 for fraud and money laundering. He failed to appear for his trial and fled to Spain, where he was arrested in Alicante in September before being extradited to the UK. He received an additional six-month sentence for absconding.
At Sheffield Crown Court, Judge David Dixon criticised Foster for evading justice while his co-defendants appeared for sentencing. The court also heard that Foster had purchased designer watches and a Porsche for his daughter and had been photographed aboard yachts, with the judge noting that his lifestyle was funded by the proceeds of the fraudulent operation.
An investigation lasting six years by National Trading Standards (NTS) uncovered a network of fake modelling agencies and photography studios operating for more than eight years across cities including Manchester, London, Leeds, Bristol, Coventry and Nottingham.
The operation targeted people who responded to social media advertisements offering modelling opportunities. Victims were invited to supposedly free photo shoots and subsequently told they had passed studio assessments. They were then pressured into purchasing expensive photographic portfolios to join modelling agencies.
Some victims resorted to credit agreements and high-cost payday loans to meet the payments. However, the photographs were of poor quality, and most victims received no paid modelling work.
Foster’s barrister, Anthony Barraclough, told the court that his client’s wife had died of cancer and his son Michael had been murdered around Christmas 2025.
NTS chairman Lord Bichard said the scheme had left thousands facing substantial debt, financial hardship and lasting emotional distress. Eight other defendants had received prison sentences or suspended terms earlier in 2026.
