Mother is put up for sale on ebay (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Mother is put up for sale on ebay

Sarah HicksGAZETTE & HERALD: MOTHER-of-two Jay Dunn says she was devastated after her daughter put her up for sale on ebay.

Mrs Dunn, of The Tarters, Sherston, was horrified to find her daughter Sarah Hicks, who lives in Warminster, had posted a notice on the Internet auction site last Friday offering to sell her.

Mrs Dunn and her husband Steven were alerted to it by an ebay user and they contacted the online firm.

The item was removed by the Internet company on Friday evening but a second notice was posted on the website on Saturday morning, which was removed again by the company that evening.

Miss Hicks wrote on her e-bay advertisement: "My mother is for sale, in the hope that someone will buy her and keep her away from our wedding as she has promised to ruin it.

"All I want is for them to leave me alone and let me have my wedding in peace. Please stop her ruining my wedding."

Miss Hicks claimed former teacher Mrs Dunn wanted to spoil her wedding to Malcolm Archer and had hired a private investigator to find out the date and venue for it.

Because of the private investigator's research, Miss Hicks said she had been forced to move the wedding venue, date and time twice.

The advert contained other allegations about Mrs Dunn's personal life and about Miss Hicks' childhood.

Mrs Dunn said she has no idea why her daughter made the accusations. She said: "We have no idea why she has taken painful memories from the past, which has slandered me horribly.

"We really didn't want this story to come out but given the circumstances we had to respond."

Mrs Dunn said there had always been highs and lows in her relationship with her daughter, who has two children, but until recently, felt that it had got better between them.

She said: "Relations improved and we pulled the stops out to support her. Last October Sarah had her second child with Malcolm and last Boxing Day we had a lovely family time. Sarah sent me a Mother's Day card this year and an-e-mail saying Happy Mother's Day."

But Mrs Dunn said at the end of March this year Miss Hicks e-mailed her telling her to leave her alone.

Mr Dunn said: "We didn't know why. I e-mailed her and asked if it included me. She did not respond."

His wife added: "We were devastated. We didn't want to upset her and we contacted vicar Malcolm Ross. "In April, a friend of Sarah rang and said Malcolm and Sarah were getting married.'

The Dunns approached the vicar to ask if a reconciliation could be brokered but Mrs Dunn said the vicar said he couldn't reveal the date of Miss Hick's wedding.

In May the Dunns say they received a letter from Miss Hicks telling them not to attend her wedding. Mrs Dunn said she hired a private investigator, who told them the wedding date.

Mrs Dunn said: "We just wanted to slip in the back of the church and see our daughter marry."

Mrs Dunn said she wrote a letter at the end of July asking her daughter to put the past behind them.

But the final straw for the Dunns came on August 5 when they were e-mailed by Miss Hick's vicar to say the details of the wedding had changed.

Mrs Dunn said: "We are upset we will never see our grandchildren again."

Miss Hicks was unavailable for comment.

An ebay spokesman said the listing contravened its guidelines and it was taken off the site as soon as it was notified about the advertsiement going on line.