Thief jailed for stealing thousands from parking meters
THE MAN who fathered six children with former Skelmersdale “Benefits Queen” Cheryl Prudham has been jailed for stealing thousands of pounds from parking meters.
Robert Prudham stole £4,787 from machines in south east London and Kent while he was employed by Meteor Parking Ltd.
The 33-year-old, who was jailed for 14 months, resigned just four weeks into his job.
On the day he quit, in 2014, he picked up £2,000 from Fremlin Walk shopping centre in Maidstone, Kent.
The following day Cheryl, who was pregnant with twins, paid for a Spanish holiday with her nine children.
Since then she has had another four, bringing the number of offspring to 13.
Robert Prudham, 33, now living in Maidstone, Kent, admitted four offences of theft.
He is the dad of six of Cheryl’s children.
Cheryl, 34, now living in Warrington, but who used to live in Skelmersdale, pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods.
She was also due to be sentenced on the same day as Robert, but a video linkup from Maidstone to Warrington Crown Court failed to work. She was sentenced on Tuesday and avoided jail for handling £2,241 in stolen goods.
“Britain’s most shameless mum” made national headlines in 2015 when it emerged that she claims £40,000 a year in benefits.
She previously admitted that she was “addicted” to getting pregnant, saying that she finds men too much hard work after her spouse of six years admitted cheating in a threesome involving his cousin.
Cheryl, who had six children by two different men before she doubled her family with husband Rob, is infamous for her lavish lifestyle despite her bumper benefits claims. When she and Rob were married, they reportedly brought in £60,000 a year between them and managed to dodge the £26,000 per year benefits cap.
She then went public with her plans to get a boob job and a tummy-tuck using spare cash to become the “Katie Price of Skelmersdale”.
Robert Prudham was jailed for a total of 14 months, including nine months for the four theft offences and a five months consecutive sentence for fraud.
He gave a thumbs-up and a smile to waiting photographers outside the court.