Mother invented 17 children to collect £30,000 in benefits

A mother who conned £30,000 in benefits by inventing 17 children has been spared jail as she suffers from post-natal depression and is pregnant with her third child.

Charlene Ostle claimed that by the age of 26 she had given birth to three sets of twins and two sets of triplets. At one point Ostle became so confused she told officials she had given birth to five children in three months.



At Carlisle Crown Court the barmaid, of Dearham, Cumbria, admitted nine charges of fraudulent activity between December 2003 and September 2006.

Recorder Arthur Noble said he was sparing her prison as an act of mercy and imposed a nine month jail term, suspended for two years.