A bogus accountant has been jailed for 16 months after swindling thousands of pounds from former X Factor contestant Rebecca Ferguson.

Rachel Taylor, 54, from Southport, was a friend of the singer’s mother yet defrauded the singer out of £20,972.30 after offering financial advice to Rebecca Ferguson.

After Ferguson fell out with her management company in the autumn of 2012, an agreement was made whereby her business affairs would be managed by Taylor for the sum of between £500 and £600 a week.

However, around Christmas 2012, Ferguson became suspicious after paying £3,350 to Taylor to set up a trust fund for her daughter but receiving no paperwork about it.

Ferguson told Liverpool Crown Court that she was from a “humble background” and trusted Taylor, saying Taylor had “posed as being concerned about her”, claiming to be determined that she wouldn’t be used by unscrupulous people who would pay on her success.

Taylor’s husband, Raymond Taylor, 62, also pleaded guilty to dishonestly providing information to obtain a student grant and was jailed for five months.

Geoff Fryar, Senior District Crown Prosecutor at Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service, said the offence was “calculated and callous” where Ms Ferguson’s trust in the family friend had been exploited.

"Rachel Taylor had no qualifications to have taken on the role of financial management and only the suspicions of Ms Ferguson eventually put an end to her offending,” said Mr Fryar.

"It is extremely ironic that Rachel Taylor, whilst claiming to protect Ms Ferguson from those who would exploit her, was doing just that herself.

"The sentence imposed by the court has provided Ms Ferguson with justice and hopefully will now close an unfortunate chapter in her life."