'You were a coward': Brookside actor is jailed for nine years after £13.6m modelling fraud and Spanish flight

Philip Foster, 51, the Brookside actor known for his role as villain Christian Wright, was handed a nine-year sentence at Sheffield Crown Court after running a network of fraudulent modelling agencies that defrauded more than 6,000 victims of £13.6m. He had originally been sentenced in absentia in February 2025, having fled to Spain where he lived lavishly on the proceeds, before his arrest in Alicante in September and subsequent extradition to the UK.

Judge David Dixon called Foster "a coward" for running from justice instead of facing it, and added six months to his original eight-and-a-half-year term.

The court heard that Foster spent the fraud proceeds on designer watches and a Porsche for his daughter, with photographs showing him living it up on yachts in Spain.

Foster's barrister told the court that his wife had died of cancer and that his son Michael — who had himself played a part in the fraud — was murdered in Spain around Christmas 2025.