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A BLUNDERING bride has been given 368 years to pay back benefits she fiddled from the state - at a rate of £2.66 a week.

Cheating Michelle Winstone - the daughter-in-law of Welsh former boxing world champion Howard Winstone - was caught out by her own wedding pictures on her Facebook pages after moving in with her new husband.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard Winstone, 48, claimed she was living alone to make a string of false claims over five years - netting £51,034.71.

But she was really living with her husband Wayne to claim income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit and council tax relief.

She even put her wedding pictures from 2010 on Facebook - and DWP investigators were tipped off.

A court allowed Winstone to pay the money back rather than go to jail even though she would have to live to 416 to pay back the full amount.

Prosecutor Alexander Greenwood said Winstone wanted to pay back the cash to avoid jail but she could only afford £2.66 a week. It means the debt would be paid back in 2384.

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"It is unlikely the full amount will be recovered from benefits," Mr Greenwood said.

"She had failed to tell the authorities that she was living with her husband following a temporary break up.

"Surveillance of the home also showed they were living together."

Mr Greenwood told the court investigators also saw the couple's relationship statuses and wedding pictures on Facebook.

Winstone, of Cefn Coed, Merthyr Tydfil, admitted failing to notify authorities of a change in circumstance. Her husband is in full-time work for a furniture company.

Andrew Davies, defending, said Winstone was not in good health and was paying back all she could.

He said: "She did not make a conscious decision but accepts that she knew her circumstances had changed."

Judge Christopher Llewellyn-Jones told Winstone: "A lot of people have to cope and do it honestly.

"I am a human being seeking to understand the problems people face but there is no doubt a prison sentence is the right sentence."

Winstone was handed an eight month suspended sentence at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court and ordered to continue the repayment.

Howard Winstone won the British, European, and World featherweight title – and even clinched gold at the 1958 British Empire Games at bantamweight.

He died aged 61 in 2000 and a bronze statue was unveiled in his home town of Merthyr Tydfil.

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