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.
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.
