A cancer cell illustration

An Australian court on Thursday ordered a wellness guru, who claimed she had beaten her brain cancer using nothing but natural remedies, to pay 410,000 dollars (320,000 dollars) for misleading consumers.

Melbourne-based blogger Belle Gibson, 25, had claimed she had brain cancer and healed herself with alternative therapies and special nutrition.

However, it was later revealed she never had the disease.

The court established that she had also lied to consumers about donating substantial sums from the sales of her Whole Pantry Smartphone app and book to various charities.

Debbie Mortimer, a federal court judge, said Gibson profited from her false statements and ordered her to pay for five contraventions of Australian consumer law on failing to donate.

The judge said Gibson had been “cavalier about the truth” and “prepared to tell outright lies.”

In one case, Gibson sought to use a young boy with a terminal illness for her own selfish vested interest to garner sympathy for her own asserted brain cancer, her commercial causes and products.

The judge labelled her behaviour “unconscionable.’’

The judge refused a request by prosecutors to order Gibson to pay for full-page apology advertisements in newspapers, as most of her conduct took place on social media.

In April, Gibson was ordered to pay 30,000 dollars in prosecution costs after she was found guilty.

However, her whole Pantry website and app have since been taken down.

Mortimer also criticised Gibson’s failure to attend any of the court hearings, saying she had “elected not to take any responsibility for her conduct.”

“She has chosen not to explain her conduct, she has chosen not to apologise for it.

“If there is one theme or pattern which emerges through her conduct, it is her relentless obsession with herself and what best serves her interests,’’ the judge said. (dpa/NAN)