Love You to Death's Lisa Hayden-Johnson defends her treatment of son Matthew after child cruelty conviction: 'I don't regret it'
Police who investigated the case said "her son paid a terrible price"
Love You to Death is a new Channel 4 documentary which reexamines the shocking case of Lisa Hayden-Johnson, who was convicted of child cruelty and perverting the course of justice after faking her son’s illness. But where is she now, and what has she said about the case?
Lisa, now 50, appears in the four-part series where she talks for the first time about her son Matthew, and her conviction.
In court, lawyers said she had subjected her son Matthew to “a regime of medical and psychological torture”. Prosecutor Andrew Macfarlane told the court that Lisa Hayden-Johnson’s “sadistic fabrication of non-existent symptoms” amounted to “24-hour-a-day torture”.
After her conviction, newspapers branded Lisa Britain’s “most evil mother”. But she now insists she “has no regrets” as she was only doing her best for her son.
Why does Lisa not show her face in the series?
Lisa Hayden-Johnson has chosen NOT to reveal her face in the series. Explaining why, she says: “I live in quite a small community, and I don’t want this to upset my life as I have it. And I want to be able to move on.”
During the interview, only her eyes are shown. However, archive footage of her when younger, alongside family photos are all shown.
Explaining why she wanted to take part in the documentary, she added: “I want to tell my side of the story because I’ve never had the opportunity to.”
Lisa Hayden-Johnson now: ‘I have no regrets’
For more than six years, Lisa lied about her son’s health. She insisted he was allergic to nearly all food, had cerebral palsy and cystic fibrosis. She also told doctors the child had diabetes and spiked his urine samples with glucose in order to fool tests. Matthew endured more than 325 medical encounters, and wore dark glasses because of a supposed intolerance to sunlight.
Doctors eventually performed surgery to fit a feeding tube directly into the then four-year-old child’s stomach after he began losing large amounts of weight, because of a lack of nutrition.
In reality, Lisa Hayden-Johnson had forced her son into a wheelchair, fed him through a tube when he didn’t need to, and let doctors – taken in by her deception – operate on the child despite the fact that there was nothing wrong with him.
But now, 15 years later, Lisa now explains that she doesn’t regret her treatment of her son. She says: “The newspaper articles are so incorrect. How can I be Britain’s most evil mother? The only thing I was guilty of was putting my son first and fighting his battle, which is what I did. And I don’t regret that.”
She continues: “I just did my best. That’s all I did. My best for my daughter. My best for my husband. And the best for Matt.”
Lisa Hayden-Johnson now: ‘I always wanted to be a mum’
Talking about becoming a parent, Lisa explains: “I always wanted to be a mum, always. I loved it, I relished it. It was the most amazing thing. I had this little princess [Laura] and it was great. We moved down to Devon when she was about eight months old [from London] and found a lovely house in Brixham right by the sea. It was a good life.”
She continued: “Matthew came in 2001. I had pre-eclampsia with him, and he was born extremely premature [at 33 weeks instead of 40]. He was really poorly; I thought I was going to lose him. He got the nickname chicken, because he did look like a plucked chicken, bless him. Matt was such a happy baby. He wouldn’t scream or cry, he was placid. Which was a massive thing. But he just wasn’t hitting his milestones.”
Lisa subsequently took her son to a variety of doctors and hospitals, where she insisted he took a “cocktail of drugs”.
‘Lisa was absolutely insistent that her son had a chronic long-term health condition’
Dr Stella Imong, who became Matthew’s paediatrician at Torbay hospital, said he constantly in and out of the hospital and “became a permanent resident”. It soon became “a rumour on the ward” that a “lot of Matthew’s conditions were fabricated and not true”.
She continued: “His mother was absolutely insistent that he had a chronic long-term health condition. He was rarely out a wheelchair, and fed through tubes. We were told he couldn’t do anything for himself. She could be quite demanding. She knew exactly what she wanted for Matthew. At lot of people on the ward had concerns about Lisa. Lisa had an appointment with the psychiatrist. When Lisa went home, the psychiatrist said: ‘I’ve never trusted her. I’ve never felt she’s been who she says she is’.”
Meanwhile, consultant clinical psychologist Dr Freda Gardner said: “Lisa was very persuasive. Her own needs were being met by Matthew being a sick child and being maintained in the sickness role. She became more and more embedded in the illness narrative.”
His consultant John Broomhall reported his concerns to the police. Eventually, DS Steve Blair “caught Lisa lying”, and police began to have serious concerns about Matthew.
Steve explains: “If she was prepared to harm herself, there was a risk she could make Matthew ill by administering something. It could be very dangerous for the child.”
Was Lisa sexually assaulted?
In 2007, staff at Torbay hospital had serious concerns about Lisa as a mother, and her son’s health. They requested that detailed tests should be carried out on Matthew in the hospital where results could not be doctored. Desperate for that not to happen, Lisa reported a serious sexual assault as a distraction. She described driving home and seeing a motorbike on its side by the road. When she went to help, she was attacked. Or so she said.
Lisa also harmed herself in a bid to make the “attack” seem authentic. She only admitted that it was a lie when police told her they were about to arrest someone.
Talking about the sexual assault now, Lisa tells the documentary makers: “This is really hard. I saw something. I saw the bike. To this day, I swear I saw the bike. And then I don’t remember anything else that happened. I have not got a clue. And it seemed really real. And it was really real.
“To this day, I believe it happened because I saw it. I know it didn’t happen, but for me it still happened. And it’s coming to terms with the fact it happened in my head. It didn’t happen realistically. I know that now, but that’s what I saw.”
Where is Lisa Hayden-Johnson now?
Lisa Hayden-Johnson is now 50 and remarried. She appears in the new documentary series where she talks for the first time about her son, and her conviction.
She does not reveal her face in the series. Explaining why, she says: “I live in quite a small community, and I don’t want this to upset my life as I have it. And I want to be able to move on.”
Explaining why she wanted to take part in the documentary, she added: “I want to tell my side of the story because I’ve never had the opportunity to. The newspaper articles are so incorrect. How can I be Britain’s most evil mother? The only thing I was guilty of was putting my son first and fighting his battle, which is what I did. And I don’t regret that.”
She lost custody of her children. Matthew, who appears in the Channel 4 documentary Love You to Death, was moved to another part of the country where he was able to recover from the physical wounds to his body. However, the psychological wounds will likely never heal.
Where is Matthew now?
Matthew was taken into care in another part of the country where, step by step, he was introduced to food and normal life. After eventually being returned to his sister and father, the family made a fresh start, moving from Brixham in Devon to Sheffield.
Almost two decades on, Matthew Johnson, now 25, and his sister, Laura Johnson, 27, are still picking up the pieces. They both appear in the documentary Love You to Death.
Matthew works in finance and has cut off all contact with his mother. Both sister Laura and son Matthew have not spoken to their mother for the past two years. Matthew terminated contact because of Lisa’s “lack of change” and refusal to seek therapy.
