Mum who raised £330k for disabled mugging victim Alan Barnes admits she sometimes wishes she hadn’t bothered as she faces huge PR bill
Katie Cutler, 23, says there are times when she regrets having raised the money as she faces bill of £6,687 for publicity agent when she tried to set up her own charitable foundation
A YOUNG mum who raised £330,000 for a mugging victim has admitted there are times when she wishes she never did.
Katie Cutler, 23, became a national sweetheart after raising the huge sum for 4ft 6in pensioner Alan Barnes after he was attacked by a drug addict outside his home.
But now she is involved in a bitter legal row over unpaid fees to a publicity agent who helped raise her profile during the campaign.
The mum-of-one is now facing court action and a possible visit from the bailiffs over the £6,687 she owes Claire Barber.
Speaking to the , Katie said: “There are dark days when I wish I never got involved … But then I think of the people I helped and I cannot regret it for long.”
Katie has until Tuesday to pay up or face having some of her things seized and sold to cover her debt.
She says that the stress has left her struggling to sleep and less able devote time to her four-year-old daughter Gracie.
She continued: “The court wrangle has been such an ordeal as I have had to think about what the bailiffs could take away.
“And the worst part is that my little girl has just started school and I don’t feel like I have been there for her.”
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Katie, from Greenside in Tyne & Wear, has now given up on plans to set up a charitable foundation to help raise money for other people.
She said: “All I ever wanted to do was to help others. I have been approached by so many people for help but have had to say no because of this legal action against me. It is a terrible ordeal.”
Katie has also been upset at the online comments Alan, who is registered as blind, has received after he offered only £10 of help as he didn’t want to “show off”.
Ms Barber, who runs her own PR firm, joined Katie’s fund raising effort and completed 14.5 days’ work over four months while charging £550 a day.
She travelled with Katie down to London for her appearances on TV shows This Morning and Songs of Praise and is now claiming her fees through a Newcastle county court writ.
Katie, who is seeking legal advice about challenging the claim, said: “I have not tried to bad-mouth Claire and I have not told lies about any of this. I just wish we had never met and this was over.”
Katie’s mum Vanessa said that they had already paid Ms Barber a £1,500 fee: “I meet people all the time who have heard about Katie and I am so proud to tell them I am her mum. I am so angry about this case.”
In a statement, Ms Barber said: “There was no charity, Katie wanted to raise her own profile and had plans of her own to set up the Katie Cutler Foundation.
“We worked together achieving blanket bespoke PR coverage. Katie made two payments in June 2015, then proceeded to write all over social media about her shock at getting our bill which was agreed prior to any work undertaken. At this point we offered her a payment plan, but she wouldn’t respond to anything.
“As a small family business, we had no choice but to go to the small claims court. We are incredibly shocked with the way Katie Cutler has belittled our hard work and devotion to the project.”
Alan’s attacker, Richard Gatiss, 26, was jailed for four years after admitting to assaulting the pensioner in January 2015.
A to help Katie pay her debt.
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