‘A lot of my childhood was stolen’: Son breaks silence on horrifying abuse by 'Britain's most evil mum'
Matthew may now have forgiven his mum for the years of medical trauma he was forced to endure - but many of the scars still remain for him and his sister.
As a child, he was forced to use a wheelchair and wear dark glasses over a claimed intolerance to sunlight, was fed through a tube and made to wear bright-coloured clothing to school so he could be found in an emergency.
It was shortly after his birth that his own mother Lisa Hayden-Johnson claimed he was afflicted with multiple health issues, including cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, diabetes and various allergies.
Except it was all a lie and a part of a harrowing web of deceit that spanned almost six years.
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Hayden-Johnson subjected her own son to hundreds of medical appointments, appeared beside him on GMTV and shamelessly watched on as her own flesh and blood was dubbed the ‘illest child in the country’.
Matthew was even given a 'Children of Courage' medallion by the Duchess of Cornwall and they were greeted by then-Prime Minister Tony Bair at Downing Street.
Well-wishers and the general public rallied around the youngster. Pictures plastered over the newspapers showed him in a wheelchair and with various tubes coming out of his nose.
But now, in an exclusive interview with LADbible, Matthew, now aged 25, and his sister Laura Johnson, 27, have bravely spoken out about what they remember from their childhood almost two decades on.
"They completely failed me"
Speaking to LADbible, Matthew said it has affected his ability to get his own health checked out and trust in healthcare professionals who were there to protect him.
He explained: “I'm very sceptical about taking myself to the hospital, but I also kind of know if there's something wrong.
“I'm at an age where I just would know if something is wrong, but I think it's more that putting trust into the NHS is probably quite difficult personally, after they completely failed me.
“I think I do have certain scepticisms on if I'm ill or not, or if there's certain things that are maybe wrong.”
Sister Laura explained she feels much the same, adding: “I think I'm very similar to Matthew, so I will go to the doctor as a last resort.
“I'm not very trusting of them, especially big hospitals. Whereas, if it's other people, if I have friends or family saying they're poorly, I'm the first one to say, ‘go get it checked out’.
“When it comes to myself, I will just wait until the very last minute until I really need to go.”
Britain's 'most evil mum'
It was in 2009 that Hayden-Johnson was eventually found out.
Following concerns raised by doctors, it was discovered she had actually fabricated her son’s illnesses and she was arrested.
She pleaded guilty to charges of child cruelty and perverting the course of justice and was later jailed for three years and three months.
It had was said at trial that she had caused significant psychological harm to Matthew, and that she had acted out for financial gain and need for attention, regularly appearing on national TV and spending charity donations.
The case accused her of tampering with Matthew’s blood sugar readings and urine tests. Throughout the ordeal she pocketed over £100,000 in disability allowance and earned the nickname ‘Britain’s Most Evil Mum’.
According to Lisa’s own defence, she had suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Now also known as fabricated or induced illness (FII), it is a mental health condition and a form of abuse in which a caregiver fakes or exaggerates a physical or mental illness in a person under their care.
The case - which eerily echoes the abuse that Gypsy Rose Blanchard was subjected to as a child - stunned the UK nearly two decades ago when Hayden-Johnson's lies came to light.
Her deceit spanned at least six years and prosecutor Andrew Macfarlane told Exeter Crown Court during her sentencing that she was motivated by publicity and financial rewards.
He said that Hayden-Johnson had 'organised, orchestrated and ensured a regime of medical, physiological and psychological mistreatment amounting to 24 hour-a-day torture' for Matthew.
"As a result of her sadistic fabrication of non-existent symptoms, the defendant achieved much publicity and national attention, including an encounter with royalty and the-then prime minister," Macfarlane said.
"A lot of my childhood was stolen"
After being taken out of his mum’s care, Matthew said life began to return to a new normal.
“I think we lived a relatively normal life once we moved to Sheffield,” he said. “We were with dad, we went to school as normal, we were expected to do homework, everything just seemed quite ordinary at that point.
“So we managed to reclaim some of that childhood back, but I think, and obviously more on Laura's side, when she’s a couple of years older than me, it was a case of how much is left there to kind of salvage?
“I feel like a lot of my childhood was stolen, but I know that Lauren spent a couple more years in that period of time than I did.”
Lauren added: “I haven't really ever recuperated what I lost in my childhood, because even when as a child and living with Matthew, I didn't necessarily have a normal childhood.
“I was being trained by mum to look after him and knowing what he needed when he needed it.
“It just kind of stayed with me, just making sure I was looking out for him.
“I just kind of got on with it and carried on the way I am.”
Matthew, who now works in finance, explained that he was let down by the services that were there to protect him as a youngster.
He said: “I think for me, there’s a lot of disappointment in the services at the time and obviously the people around that could have picked up on things quicker.
“But, there's nothing that can be changed now, so you've just got to look at it for what it is and then hope that signs are picked up quicker in the future for others.”
Laura said she holds no anger towards their mum, but ‘frustration’, because there is ‘still no acknowledgement or full understanding of what happened’ all these years later.
And when both asked what they hope people will take away from the upcoming Channel 4 documentary, the siblings both had a similar answer.
Matthew told LADbible: “To be aware that it’s something that exists. As horrible as it is to admit, there are people out there who would do those things to their children, whether it's with malicious intent or not.
“It’s still something that happened, and so I think to just try and give them a bit more of a sixth sense of it and give them a better idea of how to spot signs and raise concerns so it can be picked up quicker than it was in my case.”
The pair will appear on Channel 4’s Love You To Death, a new three-part series about what happened, airing on Wednesday (19 August).
"I broke down crying"
And reflecting on the hardest part of their childhood to see being acted out for the show, Laura explained it was seeing a reconstruction of her brother’s bedroom.
She said: “I think the one that sticks out most in my mind was walking onto set and meeting the child actors for the first time and seeing the resemblance.
“But the one that I really struggled with was actually seeing my brother's bedroom reconstructed. I remember I just kind of broke down crying. It was really difficult… just like the medication drawers.
“These are things that I'm fully aware of, and if I think back on I can see very vividly, but actually being there in person again as an adult and not a child anymore, it was a very daunting and upsetting experience.
“But then also a positive one, because I know that this documentary is going to raise awareness and if it helps one family then I feel like it was all worth it. And that’s my whole goal’.”
Love You To Death is also set to delve into the other possible reasoning behind what Hayden-Johnson subjecting her children to, such as how she 'never got over' seeing Matthew in an incubator after being born prematurely, the death of Laura's twin when she was 16 weeks pregnant, and her own childhood trauma.
Interview carried out by LADbible reporter Jess Battison.
Love You to Death airs at 9pm on Channel 4 from 19 August.
James Holt