Stacey Worsley, 30, leaving Leeds Crown Court today after she was spared jail

A mother who stole £140,000 raised for her six-year-old son's cancer treatment has today been spared jail.

Stacey Worsley, 32, stole money raised to pay for her son Toby Nye's life-saving treatment, and instead used the cash to fund her gambling habit.

Toby was diagnosed with rare cancer neuroblastoma on his fourth birthday in January 2017 and his family launched an appeal to raise £200,000 to pay for therapy which was not available on the NHS.

Leeds United players and the club's fans helped raise the cash for the six-year-old's treatment but Worsley lost around £140,000 on online gambling sites, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Toby passed away from a brain tumour in January this year, after a 'long and courageous fight'.

Worsley walked away from court today after the after the judge accepted she had been under 'extraordinary pressure'.

The nurse was given a suspended sentence by Judge Guy Kearl QC who said Worsley began to chase her losses and the situation 'spiralled'.

He told her: 'You became overwhelmed by the situation in which you found yourself.

'No-one could fail to be moved by your story.'

Toby, pictured with his mother, was diagnosed with rare cancer neuroblastoma on his fourth birthday in January 2017

Little Toby passed away from a brain tumour on January 12, this year at the age of six

Judge Kearl said: 'You were under enormous pressure and I have no doubt that all of this started as a result of you wanting to raise the money for his treatment.'

At one stage Worsley gambled away £20,000 in just 12 days.

The court heard how Toby's £200,000 treatment was eventually funded after Leeds United football club became involved in the fundraising.

But the youngster died earlier this year, aged six, leaving behind his father Simon Nye, 32, and his siblings Ollie, eight, and two-year-old Sienna.

Worsley, from Osmondthorpe, Leeds, was given a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years, on Friday. She admitted fraud at an earlier hearing.

Judge Kearl said he had to balance the 'extraordinary pressure' she had been under and the fact she had two other young children to look after against the dent in confidence this case would inevitably bring to others wanting to donate in similar circumstances.

He also noted that Worsley had not spent any of the money on luxuries for herself.

Judge Kearl said: 'This case is unique. The confluence of mitigating factors takes it far outside the norm and are unlikely to recur.'

The judge was told that Worsley ran up £140,000 in gambling debts.

The mother-of-three, a sole trustee of the fundraising page, had a number of online gambling accounts and would place bets from Leeds General Infirmary.

She was charged with fraud by misrepresentation and pleaded guilty to the offence at a hearing less than four weeks after Toby died.

Her sister Becky Worsley claimed she 'honestly believed she could win the money we needed for his treatment;.

She said her sister was 'blinded by panic, worry and fear' as she was 'petrified she would lose her son and in the process ended up addicted to gambling while frantically trying to win back what she lost.'

Left, Worsley leaving the chapel at Cottingley Hall Crematorium in Leeds after her son's funeral, and right, at Leeds United, where players and fans raised thousands of pounds for Toby

Worsley, from Osmondthorpe, Leeds, was given a two-year jail sentence, suspended for two years. Worsley is pictured here at Leeds United

He said the cash had been recovered from the online gambling companies and West Yorkshire Police currently hold around £135,000 which would be given back to major donors and other charities.

The judge heard how Toby was initially treated on the NHS but, when this trial failed, his family began a £200,000 fundraising campaign.

This involved a JustGiving page plus a range of other activities, including raffles and a charity ball.

Toby's school raised almost £6,000 and one woman donated a large sum raised for her daughter after the NHS stepped in to fund her treatment, prosecutor Phillip Adams told the court.

In August 2017, Leeds United became involved in fundraising for Toby, which raised the profile of the campaign.

After the football club's involvement, a decision was taken to close the JustGiving page, which had raised £65,000. Of this, £41,000 was given to 32-year-old Worsley to help improve Toby's life.

The youngster's family launched an appeal to raise £200,000 to pay for therapy which was not available on the NHS

Mr Adams said other donations had gone directly to the defendant, making a total of just over £100,000.

Nicholas De La Poer, defending, said: 'The gambling started with the best of intentions and it became a compulsive distraction from the horrors of the situation.'

The barrister said the online betting 'spiralled hopelessly out of control' and 'she was in the grip of it'.

Mr De La Poer argued that Worsley's surviving children, who are aged seven and two, needed their mother, and said his client would almost certainly lose her job as a nurse as a result of the conviction.

As she left the courtroom, Worsley was hugged by members of her family, many of whom were in tears.

The court heard that none of the money raised by Leeds United went through Worsley and was all spent on Toby's treatment.

Announcing Toby's death in January his family said the 'little warrior' died at home 'in the arms of mummy and daddy' and surrounded by his family.

'He fought so hard to the end, he wasn't in any pain and he was peaceful. I cannot even begin to explain how we are feeling right now, heartbroken doesn't even come close.'