Single mother who went on shopping spree after council mistakenly put £50,000 into her bank account will have to pay it back or go to prison

Michaela Hutchings spent £9,000 on shopping and gave mother £1,000



She put £40,000 into a savings account before she was caught by police

Ordered to pay all back by Christmas Eve or face 20 months in prison

Also handed 12-month community order and 150 hours unpaid work

Order: Michaela Hutchings, 23, was spared jail but given six months to pay back the money she spent in a two-day spree after finding £52,000 in her account

A single mother who went on a huge shopping spree after discovering £52,000 had mistakenly been put into her bank account has been ordered to pay it back - or face prison.



Michaela Hutchings, 23, spent £9,000 on designer shoes, handbags and sunglasses in a two-day spending splurge after finding the transfer from her local council.

She also gave her mother £1,000 in cash and put £40,000 into a savings account, before she was caught by police on April 24 last year.

A judge spared her prison when she admitted dishonesty and retaining a wrongly-credited bank transfer when she appeared at Stafford Crown Court.

However, she now has six months to repay the money or serve 20 months in prison.



She was also given a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

A confiscation hearing at Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday ordered her to repay £52,465.21 - the £51,821.34 bank transfer plus £643.87 interest.

Most of the money has been recovered but Hutchings still owes a total of £5,733.77 from the designer clothes and interest which was accrued.

If she fails to repay the money by Christmas Eve she will be jailed for one year and eight months.



A police spokesman said: 'The clothing and accessories will now be sold at auction in order to help pay the Confiscation Order.

'The Crown asked that a Compensation Order be made so that the entire sum could be paid back to Lichfield District Council.'

An administrative error meant Lichfield District Council accidentally transferred £51,821.34 into her account instead of 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 Hutchings, she had already spent over £9,000 after going on a shopping spree at Birmingham’s Bullring centre with her partner.

She bought almost £5,000 worth of goods by Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren and Dior.

Designer: The single mother, pictured left in Gucci sunglasses, spent £9,000 on shoes, bags and sunglasses

Sentenced: If she fails to repay the money and do 150 hours unpaid work, she faces 20 months in prison

The court heard Hutchings and her partner bought designer clothes, shoes, jeans, sunglasses and other luxuries.

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 that 'anyone would have done the same.'

Speaking shortly after conviction, she said: '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.'

Out of the £51,821.34 wrongly put into her account, the police have recovered £46,087.57 - leaving a shortfall of £5,733.77.