The Shocking Truth Behind ‘Bad Nanny’ Samantha Cookes Unmasked
Have you seen the new BBC documentary Bad Nanny ? If not, buckle up — because this isn’t just another true crime story. This is about Samantha Cookes, a woman who spent over a decade weaving a terrifying web of lies across the UK and Ireland, all while posing as someone who was supposed to be trusted: a nanny, a therapist, even a surrogate mother.
For thirteen years, from 2011 to 2024, Samantha Cookes conned families — often those with disabled children — with a chilling combination of charm, deception, and cold calculation. Under multiple aliases like “Lucy Hart,” “Lucy Fitzwilliams,” and even the shocking online persona “Carrie Jade Williams,” she preyed on vulnerable people, telling elaborate stories to gain their trust and ultimately steal from them.
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One of the most heart-wrenching stories comes from a couple in North Yorkshire, Katie and Luke, who believed they were speaking to a kind-hearted woman offering to be their surrogate. They ended up losing their entire savings. Then there’s Layla, a mum-of-three from County Offaly in Ireland, who thought she was hiring a Mary Poppins-like nanny named Lucy Hart. Once Layla grew suspicious, Cookes vanished without a trace, leaving behind only fear and confusion.
In Dublin, two mothers, Lorraine and Lynn, shared their disturbing experience of hiring Cookes — then known as Lucy Fitzwilliams — as a child therapist. Cookes convinced them to hand over money for a supposed trip to Lapland for their disabled children, which of course, never existed. She even spun tales about being a £3 million heiress and planning to marry a pastor. The depth of her manipulation is truly staggering.
Perhaps most disturbingly, Samantha took her con game to TikTok, portraying herself as Carrie Jade Williams — a disability activist battling a terminal illness. Her posts went viral, and she gained sympathy, donations, and support from thousands. But when some followers started digging, her façade crumbled. They uncovered her real identity and exposed her fraudulent history.
In the end, Cookes was arrested in Tralee and sentenced to four years in prison earlier this year, with one year suspended. Her charges included theft and welfare fraud — but no sentence could fully repay the emotional and financial trauma she inflicted.
Bad Nanny isn’t just a documentary — it’s a wake-up call about how easily trust can be exploited. Samantha Cookes wore many masks, but underneath them all was a calculated fraudster who used people's vulnerabilities against them. It's a stark reminder that evil doesn’t always look the way we expect. The series is streaming now on BBC iPlayer — and trust me, you won’t be able to look away.
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