Truth about 'White Dee' of Channel 4's Benefits Street... she stole cash from the poor to fund lover's crack habit

They complained that the television series had made them look like ‘complete scum’. But one of the female ‘stars’ of controversial Channel 4 documentary Benefits Street is today unmasked as a convicted criminal.

 ‘White Dee’ – the self-proclaimed ‘mother of the street’ – stole from the vulnerable to fund her lover’s crack habit, the Mail can disclose.

She and her friend ‘Black Dee’ – nicknamed by their neighbours on account of their colour – featured heavily in Monday’s first episode, portrayed as hubs of a close-knit working-class community.
White Dee’s conviction as a thief emerged as another resident told of his ‘shame’ at living on the street and said that his insurance company was now threatening to withdraw cover on his vehicles as a result of the documentary.
The takeaway owner added that his children were being teased about their address at school.

Channel 4 could face a police probe over the documentary, which featured thief Danny Smith demonstrating his tricks of the trade as a shoplifter and boasting about his ill-gotten gains.
John O’Shea, a Labour councillor in Birmingham where the series was filmed, said that Channel 4 appeared to have ‘aided and abetted shoplifting’.
The broadcaster had yesterday received almost 400 complaints about Monday’s show.

One of the main characters, ‘White Dee’ – real name Deirdre Kelly –  was portrayed as a streetwise single mother-of-two who uses her knowledge of the benefits system to help her neighbours in James Turner Street, Winson Green, a deprived inner-city area  of Birmingham.
But the Daily Mail can reveal that while the ‘mother of the street’ may look out for those living around her, she once had no scruples about stealing more than £13,000 from the city council which employed her.
The theft included envelopes of cash given to social workers to look after by ‘most vulnerable’ tenants. 

A court heard Kelly had worked as an administration assistant for her local authority in Birmingham for seven years but began stealing cash and cheques from a safe, while manipulating paperwork in a bid to cover her tracks.
Kelly, now 42, was rumbled by an internal audit. She claimed in court that she had used the cash to feed her partner’s crack cocaine habit and pay bills.

 
The mother was only spared prison because she had no previous convictions and to ensure her children were not put into care.
She received a suspended sentence and was ordered to carry out 220 hours’ unpaid work, and was sacked as a result of the ‘mean-spirited and calculated’ theft.

Her fellow ‘star’ of the documentary, ‘Black Dee’ Roberts, 32,  has complained that programme-makers duped her into taking  part by promising the series would be about the residents’ sense of community.
The unemployed youth and support worker said its focus on ‘people in the street living off benefits, taking drugs and dossing around … makes people out as complete scum’.

Black Dee – real name Samora Roberts – is currently on bail in connection with a ‘racially aggravated incident’ in James Turner Street last August, and a drugs bust last June.
She has protested her innocence in relation to the drugs raid.
The revelations emerged as another resident, who admitted on camera that he and his girlfriend had been caught fiddling their benefits in the past, was photographed being taken away by police.
The West Midlands force later said Mark Thomas, 23, had contacted officers to make a complaint and was taken to a police station to give a statement.
His partner, Becky Howe, 23, suggested the complaint concerned a ‘family matter’.
Kelly did not return calls about her conviction last night. Roberts did not comment.
Channel 4 last night said it had no plans to edit the episode for its 4oD online catch-up service. A spokesman said it had not handed unused-material from the ‘human and objective’ documentary to police, and would only do so on receipt of a court order.
The spokesman also admitted that welfare claimants featured in Monday’s programme were paid ‘small expenses’ such as electricity used during filming.
West Midlands Police said officers would watch the series in its entirety before deciding whether to seek additional footage.
The force has not been given preview copies of forthcoming episodes.