Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe LONDON, July 23 (UPI) -- A British court spared from jail a mother who allegedly invented 17 children to collect benefits after learning the woman is pregnant with her third real child. Recorder Arthur Noble handed down a 9-month jail term, suspended for two years, to Charlene Ostle, The Daily Mail reported Monday. He said he was sparing Ostle, who suffers from post-natal depression, from jail as an act of mercy. Advertisement Ostle admitted nine charges of fraudulent activity between December 2003 and September 2006. During that time period, she claimed more than $60,000 in child tax credits for nonexistent children. Prosecutor Giles Bridge told the court that Ostle made more than 400 calls to the tax credit helpline to alter the official headcount of her fictitious family. Alison Whalley, Ostle's defense attorney, said her client was suffering from a lack of support from her partner and was unable to ask for help due to pride.
