X Factor’s Rebecca Ferguson Feels She ‘Finally Has Justice’ For £43,000 Fraud, But 'Is Still Recovering’

X Factor’s Rebecca Ferguson has spoken out for the first time since the woman who conned her out of £43,000 was jailed last month.

Rachel Taylor, 54, was jailed for 16 months for frauding Rebecca out of £43,086, some of which the singer believed was being used to set up a trust fund for daughter Lillie May.

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Rachel’s husband Raymond was convicted of fraud after police uncovered a bogus student grant application for £32,000. However, the charges against him which related to Rebecca were not proceeded with.

According to The Mirror, the 28-year-old has spoken out about her awful ordeal for the first time since the court case ended, admitting that she’s finding it tough to put it all behind her.

She said: “I finally got justice, but I’m still recovering from it all.

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“There was so much more to it, and only so much that gets said in court, and I think if people knew everything they would be quite surprised to hear how I got through it all.”

Revealing how her trust has been shattered by the case, she continued: “I opened myself up to people I thought really cared about me and, when I look back, I realise I was naive, trusting and young.

“I’m one of these people who tries to look for the good in people, but I’ve learnt that, actually, no, some people fundamentally just are not nice.”

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Rebecca, who has three children, added: “I’ve been through a lot in the last five years.

“A lot of negative stuff has happened to me – that’s why I’m tough – but I don’t want people to be like, ‘Oh, poor Becky’, because I’m not a victim.

“It’s a lesson learned and I’m a better, stronger woman for it.”

It’s the end of an ordeal which started in 2012, when she befriended Rachel just after she split from her management company.

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She said: “I went into court and said what I did very purposefully so that she would see what she’d done.

“My friends, who were looking at her when I was quite upset and speaking, said she showed no remorse. But I wanted to show that my life goes on and say, ‘What you did to me won’t break me’.

“The minute she went down, it was closure. It felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Now, I feel happier and more positive.”