RHIANNA Thomas could have been starting a prison sentence today for illegally receiving more than £55,000 and buying herself a new car.

Instead, the 24-year-old walked free from Oxford Crown Court after a judge said she had fallen “under the spell” of her fraudster husband Arron Thomas, 32.

He is today starting a 22-month prison sentence after he admitted five counts of fraud and three of transferring criminal property.

Almost £100,000 was transferred into Mrs Thomas’s bank account using fraudulent invoices in the run-up to her wedding in April 2011.

The couple then went on a shopping spree, spending £9,000 on a Suzuki GSX-R600 motorbike and £4,250 on breast enlargements.

Arron Thomas admitted diverting the funds while he was working in the accounts department of Oxford-based builders’ merchant Grafton Merchanting.

After a trial earlier this year a jury decided Mrs Thomas did not realise the first two payments were fraudulent, after her husband told her they were loans.

But she was convicted of possessing stolen property in relation to sums of £29,895.67 and £24,162.97 transferred on February 28 and March 18. And she was found guilty of knowing they were illegally obtained when she paid £14,235 for a Volvo C70 convertible.

Claire Fraser, defending Mrs Thomas, said her client felt she could “fix” her dishonest husband, who she knew had committed fraud in the past.

She said: “What became clear in the course of the trial is that although this was Rhianna Thomas’s bank account, Arron Thomas had a significant degree of control.

“Had it not been for her relationship with Arron Thomas, then Rhianna Thomas would not be where she stands today.”

Sheilagh Davies, defending Arron Thomas said: “He moved in with her during the recession and after a few months he lost his job and was unable to find another.

“She supported him and his daughter when he was out of work for approximately six months.

“He wanted the very best for her so he borrowed a lot of money – £12,000 initially. This went up to £20,000 to buy her a car.

“It was misguided and stupid – he was borrowing more and more to try and meet the repayments. In the end he turned to fraud.”

Recorder Philip Brooke Smith said that what the couple, of Coopers Lane, Abingdon, had done amounted to “money laundering”.

To Mrs Thomas he said: “Through the relevant period you were very much under the spell of your husband.”

He sentenced her to 15 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 250 hours of unpaid work and £1,000 costs.