Mum who quaffed champagne she didn't pay for escapes jail again

4:37pm Thursday 31st January 2008

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A young mum who ran up bills of thousands of pounds at swanky hotels has escaped jail for a second time after not doing her community service.

Joanna Pickles was in a group of four who quaffed champagne and fine red wine at Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons.

But the 20-year-old and three others, one of whom was her partner, failed to pay the £3,500 bill at the celebrity chef's exclusive hotel.

The group also enjoyed the high life when they visited the five star The Vineyard on the edge of Newbury.

As well as knocking back expensive wine and fizz they had fish and chips at the hotel which bills itself as The ultimate destination hotel for anyone with a passion for fine wine and Michelin-starred food'.

Again the guests failed to pay the £3,700 bill and Pickles was convicted of two counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception when she appeared before a court in Oxford.

Pickles, of Saltash Road, Swindon, was ordered to do 250 hours of community service when she was sentenced in November last year.

However four weeks later she failed to turn up to complete the unpaid work and then again did not attend a few days before Christmas.

The court was told that Pickles had lost the help of a babysitter from probation after her first breach which led to her second failure to attend.

She now had to find her own child minder for her two year old son when she had to do the work and was prepared to continue with the punishment.

Judge Douglas Field allowed the order to continue and added to it a further seven hours of unpaid work.

He told her "Your breach of this order is very serious. You run the risk of straight into custody.

"Take it from me; if this is breached again you are staring prison in the face. You were very lucky indeed to get this community order for these offences."