Jade Goody conman sentenced

A conman that stole more than £12,000 from Jade Goody and was allowed a free run of her house while babysitting her children has been sentenced today.

The reality TV star employed 29-year-old Luke Rustem of Harlow, Essex as a childminder but she did not realise he had previous convictions of stealing from an employer.

Rustem stole the money over a period of 14 months by cutting cheques from her cheque book and forging her signature.

He admitted theft including nine offences between February 2005 and April 2006 and was sentenced to an eight-month suspended prison sentence at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Anthony Goldstaub QC also banned Rustem from going to the pub or any other licensed premises as part of the condition of the sentence so that he could "inconvenience" him.

The judge said: "It will clip his wings, cause him inconvenience if a person of his age is not able to go to the pub or the disco. In some ways it may be regarded as worse than prison."