Search: Shannon benefit fraud
An aunt of abducted schoolgirl Shannon Matthews is facing jail after admitting benefit fraud.
Amanda Hyett, 27, illegally claimed more than £35,000 in income support and housing benefit over a four-year period, Leeds Crown Court heard at a hearing in October.
Hyett, of King Edward Street, Thornhill Lees, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, admitted four counts of making a false statement or representation to obtain benefits, one count of retaining a wrongful credit and one count of failure to notify a change of circumstances. She denied one count of making a false statement.
At the hearing in October, Hyett was warned by The Recorder of Leeds, Peter Collier QC, that she must prepare to be handed a prison sentence.
He told her: "The fact I have granted bail and asked for reports is no indication the sentence will not be custodial.
"These are serious matters you had admitted. The likely sentence is a prison sentence.
"Whether that is so or what length will be determined by the judge on November 5," he added.
Hyett, the sister of Shannon's mother Karen's ex-partner Craig Meehan, became a well-known figure after she became involved in the search for the missing girl, who disappeared in February last year.
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She took part in candlelit vigils for Shannon, gave television interviews and was a frequent visitor to the Matthews' home next door to her own former property on Moorside Road, Dewsbury Moor.
