A mother who claimed benefits despite winning £95,000 on Deal or No Deal has been ordered to do 215 hours of unpaid work
Caroline Banana, 40, of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, continued to receive housing benefit, income support and council tax benefit after winning money.
Today she was sentenced to a 12-month community order with the unpaid work and ordered to repay all the money she owed after admitting six counts of fraud ahead of her trial.
District Judge David Taylor said: 'Any honest person who acquired £95,000 would do the right thing and say, 'I do not need any state benefit, I have a different life now.'
The mother-of-three admitted failing to disclose her windfall to either the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or Stoke City Council, who paid her thousands of pounds worth of benefits she was not entitled to.
As a result, she wrongfully received housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support worth a total of £6,147.92, plus free school meals worth £1,120.90.
Today Mr Taylor, sitting at North Staffordshire Magistrates' court, ordered her to carry out a 12-month unpaid work order, with supervision by the probation service.
He also said she had to repay the Department for Work and Pensions and Stoke City Council everything she owes them, plus £350 costs.
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He said: 'Any offence of benefits fraud is never victimless: it harms every member of society who works and pays tax.'
He said she had 'brought upon herself' the shame of the publicity her case had received, and said her behaviour did 'amount to a deliberate cover-up'.
Banana won a life-changing amount when she appeared on Deal Or No Deal in 2011, but still claimed benefits
She spent most of her winnings on a £60,000 holiday home in Turkey while continuing to claim housing benefit
Mr Taylor also said Banana was only due 'minimum credit' for not admitting her guilt until the eve of her trial last week.
The rules state that benefit claimants must inform the DWP if their bank balance exceeds £16,000, either due to a windfall or inheritance.
However Banana, who appeared on the Channel 4 show hosted by Noel Edmonds in November 2011, did not disclose her winnings.
She admitted failing to disclose her windfall separately to both the DWP and Stoke City Council, and admitted failing to declare to them her employment at a chemist, medical surgery and Longton Cottage Hospital.
After winning the five-figure sum on Noel Edmonds' game-show, Banana should have declared it to authorities
Banana further admitted making a false representation on an Income Support application form by not declaring she was owed her TV gameshow winnings.
She also pleaded guilty to wrongly claiming free school meals for three children.
In mitigation, her solicitor David Green said offers of employment for Banana had been withdrawn when potential employers discovered her case in the press.
'Whatever happens today cannot outweigh her punishment already,' he said.
He said one of her daughters had been beaten up at school as a result of Banana’s notoriety, while vandals had targeted the family home.
Mr Green added Banana had begun repaying what she had wrongly claimed and was going to sell a £60,000 property in Turkey she had bought with the winnings to help settle the rest of her debt.
Caroline Banana, pictured above outside court, admitted six counts of fraud on the eve of her trial
She now has 12 months to settle her over-payments in full.
Councillor Paul Shotton, Stoke-on-Trent City Council deputy leader, said Banana’s actions in fraudulently claiming benefit were 'offensive' both to people with genuine claims and to taxpayers who provide the money.
He said: 'We are pleased with the court verdict and, as with all of these cases, the money that was obtained fraudulently will now be paid back in full to the council.'
He added: 'She’s won a substantial amount of money and failed to declare it, then continued to take money out of the system.
'Like many other councils, we’ve got issues meaning we need to make cuts to services but at least £1 million is fraudulently going out of the council coffers to be spent on people like Caroline Banana.'We take a serious view of this sort of fraud and will always look to prosecute.'