Romanian begging mum faces prison

A professional beggar who used her own children as props for her scrounging faces jail along with her fraudster husband.

Romanian couple Gheorghe and Speranta Mihai, of Salt Hill way, Slough, appeared at Reading Crown Court on Monday facing a nine-count indictment.

Speaking through Romanian interpreters, both pleaded guilty to cruelty to children aged under 16 by failing to cause them to be educated.

Speranta Mihai also pleaded guilty to cruelty by causing or permitting children she was responsible for to be engaged in begging.

The 33-year-old mother-of-seven begged around the Slough, London and Home Counties area between January 1, 2007, and October 15, 2009.

Gheorghe Mihai, 37, had previously pleaded guilty to a series of frauds by false representation.

Judge Stephen John adjourned sentencing to July 30 and told them: "You must expect the sentence to be one of imprisonment, probably of considerable length."

Read more in this week's Slough Express.