A WOMAN who spent more than £2,000 of her husband's benefit payments while he was serving time for murder abroad was spared jail yesterday.

Anne-Marie Oates, also known as Monteith, and Richard Monteith moved to Spain in 2001.

In March the following year, he was arrested over the death of Diane Dyson, 63. The pensioner, who had been married five times, was strangled and battered to death at her luxury apartment in Torremolinos in March 2002.

Spanish police suspected the motive for the murder was theft. More than 170 items of jewellery were discovered to be missing from the pensioner's flat.

Richard Monteith was jailed for 16 years for the widow's murder and Oates, was sentenced to 15 months for handling the victim's stolen jewellery.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how Oates was released from jail in December 2005 and returned to the UK.

It was between January and October last year she spent disability allowance paid to Richard Montieth, which he was not entitled to, but had been paid in to a bank account she had access to.

Her crime was discovered after an anonymous caller reported what was going on to the Department of Work and Pensions fraud hotline.

Oates admitted obtaining wrongful credit of £2,612 between January and October last year.

Her barrister Paul Currer told the court: "She spent a very traumatic and difficult time in Spain.

"Part of that time, a large part of that time, she was in custody.

"When she returned to this country, she was extremely traumatised by her ordeal.

"She did not have any access to funds immediately and on that basis used the funds available to her. She is extremely sorry for that."

Judge David Hodson sentenced her to a community order for 12 months with supervision.

The judge said he was conscious of what happened in Spain and the difficult situation she found herself in.

It is believed Oates, 51, formerly of North Tyneside, and her then husband Monteith have split up.