Mum may go to jail after shopping spree

Michaela Hutchings still owes £5,700 and will go to prison if she does not pay up

A single mum who went on a huge shopping spree after discovering nearly £52,000 had mistakenly put into her bank account will go to jail if she doesn't pay back the £5,733 she still owes.
Michaela Hutchings, 23, has six months to find the sum or face 20 months in prison, Staffordshire Police revealed.
A judge spared her prison when she admitted dishonesty and retaining a wrongly-credited bank transfer at Stafford Crown Court.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Hutchings said she was "ashamed" of her actions,but claimed she found herself in a difficult moral dilemma.

Cheers: Michaela Hutchings went on a spending spree after she found her £52,000 in her bank account.

Instead, Hutchings, of Lichfield, Staffs, was given a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 150 hours' unpaid work.
A confiscation hearing at the court has ordered her to repay £52,465.21 - the £51,821.34 bank transfer plus £643.87 interest.
The pretty blonde spent £9,000 on designer shoes, handbags and sunglasses in a two-day spending spree after finding the transfer from her local council.
Police have managed to return many of the goods and get refunds. The other items will be auctioned.
Hutchings also gave her mother £1,000 cash and put £40,000 into a savings account before police caught her on April 24 last year.
A police spokesman said: "The clothing and accessories will now be sold at auction in order to help pay the confiscation order.

'Seizing a good opportunity': Hutchings in self-shot pictures posted online. The 23-year-old spent £9,000 on designer shoes, handbags and sunglasses in a shopping spree.

"The Crown asked that a compensation order be made so that the entire sum could be paid back to Lichfield District Council."
The money mistakenly put in her account was supposed to go to Bromford Housing Association.
The council managed to stop a further £44,500 being transferred into Hutchings' account and desperately tried to trace her to explain the error.
But by the time they caught her she had already gone shopping at Birmingham's Bullring centre with her partner.
She bought almost £5,000 worth of goods by Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Dior.
The court heard Hutchings and her partner bought designer clothes, shoes, jeans, sunglasses and other luxuries.

Lichfield Mum spent £9,000 of Council money after 'blunder'.

When she was caught officers discovered she had transferred £40,000 into an investment account after taking advice from her bank who were unaware of the mistake.
Hutchings sparked fury when she defended her actions, claiming: "Anyone would have done the same."
She said after her conviction: "All this is my fault and I feel so sorry. I put my family in a position where they are being looked down on by everyone.
"I'm sorry but before you judge me put yourself in my shoes."
After her designer clothes have been auctioned, Hutchings will be ordered to pay back the difference or face Christmas - and the January sales - behind bars.