The creator of crime-busting animated hero Rastamouse has been sentenced for benefits fraud totalling more than £8,000 after a judge remarked: “Not even Da Easy Crew can get him out of this one.”

Michael de Souza, 64, was the brains behind the popular children’s books and hit CBeebies TV series about a cheese-loving rodent who solves

mysteries with his reggae band Da Easy Crew for Da President of Mouseland. But he has now admitted claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and housing benefit for a year while secretly receiving money from his work as an award-winning author.

De Souza pleaded guilty at Southwark crown court yesterday to the benefits fraud, admitting he had “not grasped the nettle” of telling the authorities about his other sources of income.

Judge Christopher Hehir sentenced De Souza to 160 hours of community service, telling him: “It is a great shame that a man of your undoubted talents, which I’ve been able to observe for myself through the medium of the TV show Rastamouse, finds himself before the crown court for a matter of this sort."

After De Souza entered his guilty pleas, the judge jokingly remarked: “Not even Da Easy Crew can get him out of this one. I’ve got young children and I used to be a fan of Rastamouse. I did tell my eight-year-old daughter, who was a big fan when she was younger, that Mr De Souza was appearing before me, and she wasn’t keen on a custodial sentence.” He added: “For the avoidance of doubt, I don’t usually run sentences past my young children.”

De Souza, who was a swimming teacher to the children of celebrities including Stella McCartney and Sir Richard Branson before turning his hand to writing, created Rastamouse from stories he would tell his daughter and some of his students.

The furry hero, voiced on TV by BBC presenter Reggie Yates, told fans to “take it easy” as he split his time between playing music and solving crimes. The court heard that De Souza has now sold the rights to the character, and fell into debt after a series of failed business ventures.

Prosecutor Sasha Queffurus said De Souza wrongly claimed £3,581.90 in Jobseeker’s Allowance and £5,186.12 in housing benefit between January and December 2017, while failing to declare his other income. “There were two oral conversations and two written declarations that he was not in paid work,” she said.

Dickon Edwards, representing De Souza, said benefits had helped him make ends meet as swimming coaching and speaking at the occasional book fair was “a very irregular source of income”. Mr Edwards continued: “He didn’t grasp the nettle and turn his mind to his requirements to notify parties as to his change of circumstances. He expressed remorse for that.”

De Souza, of Westbourne Green, initially denied two charges of dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances. However he changed his pleas to guilty and was sentenced to a community order, including community service, which will last for 12 months.