Cheryl avoids prison term for handling stolen meter cash
“BENEFITS Queen” Cheryl Prudham avoided prison for handling thousands of pounds stolen from parking meters.
It followed the jailing of her ex-boyfriend Robert Prudham, who this week was locked up for 14 months for theft and fraud offences.
The mum of 12 was instead given a suspended sentence after she admitted spending more than £2,200 of stolen cash on an all-inclusive holiday for herself, her children and former partner.
Prudham, 34, from Skelmersdale, but now of Grassmere Avenue, Warrington, was sentenced to four months, suspended for two years, plus a 35-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
A judge told her that she would have gone to jail had she not pleaded guilty.
Prudham pleaded guilty to handling £2,241 of the £4,787 her ex-partner admitted siphoning off while working as a money collector, having obtained the job by fraud.
She appeared on Tuesday, January 9 at Maidstone Crown Court by video link from Warrington Crown Court.
The holiday, for which she paid £7,671, was to Victoria Playa, in Santo Tomas in Menorca, flying from Gatwick Airport on May 16 2014.
Her barrister described his client as “deeply ashamed”.
Prudham appeared on Channel 5 documentary Benefits: Britain’s Most Shameless Mum, making national headlines in 2015 when it emerged that she claims £40,000 a year in benefits.
She then appeared on ITV’s This Morning to appeal for a sperm donor and faced some hard questions from show presenter Holly Willoughby, who asked her how she slept at night, knowing she was receiving so much in benefits.