THE ONCE step-daughter of TV Chef and I'm A Celebrity contestant John Burton-Race was jailed for 16 months for taking part in a banking scandal.

Eve Dendle, of Theale, sobbed uncontrollably after she was jailed for making deceptive phone calls to HSBC, a charge which she had denied.

The 30-year-old admitted making a string of fraudulent banking transactions using an account which was set up by a bank employee. They then fled the country.

Dendle's part in the scandal saw her swindle the bank out of £11,706.

Sentencing Dendle, Judge Stephen John said: "Every honest bank account holder bears the burden for your frauds.

"You made 11 separate transactions by the deliberate and fraudulent using of a card from your own account that you knew was empty to obtain foreign currency."

Dendle had tried to persuade jurors she was led on by another fraudster and she did not understand the extent of the devious operation.

Ed Hollingsworth, prosecuting at Reading Crown Court, added: "The crown submit that the defendant's role was not the leading role and the account was set up by a HSBC worker who it was suspected had his fingers in a number of fraudulent pies.

"She would have been aware this was a fraudulent account.

"Although she was not the brains behind the operation we say she had a very significant role."

Dandle is one of six children of Kim Burton-Race - who was married to chef John Burton-Race. The Michelin starred cook and former contestant of I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here divorced Kim in 2007.

Thirty-year-old Dandle, of Meadow Way, Theale, previously admitted three counts of fraud by false representation.

She denied a fourth count but was convicted following a trial.

Dendle, a single mother, was jailed her for 16 months, prompting an expletive-filled outburst from the public gallery.

The judge added: "It's the responsibility of parents not to behave in such a way that puts their children at risk. You should have thought about that before."

The court heard how Dandle struggled with debt and she had only managed to repay £50 of the cash she took.

Stephen Shay, defending, said: "She has learned very much that these offences are taken very seriously by the courts.

"Lots has happened since these offences which are nearly three years old.

"The reality is that you (judge) are sentencing a much older and wiser individual now."