Meet the unemployed mother-of-two who borrowed £1,700 from EIGHT payday loan companies to buy 'hundreds' of Christmas presents... and now she says she can't pay any of them back

  • Katie McGil, 28, from Devizes, Wiltshire, will have to repay £3,000
  • Unemployed mother, who is on benefits, wanted to 'treat' her family
  • Has claimed she will be unable to provide for her children when she starts to pay money back

By Wills Robinson

PUBLISHED: 04:48 EST, 26 December 2013 | UPDATED: 09:54 EST, 26 December 2013

A single mother-of-two who lives on benefits used payouts from eight payday loan companies so her children could have a special Christmas.

Unemployed Katie McGill borrowed £1,690 from the controversial firms and will have start paying back £3,000 from January 2.

The 28-year-old from Devizes, Wiltshire, took out the loans of between £80 and £380 to buy 'hundreds' of presents for her children, but now fears she will not be able to provide for them when she tries to cover the repayments.

Payouts: Katie McGill, 28, wanted to 'treat' her children Mya-Renee, three, and Calvin, eight this Christmas

Payouts: Katie McGill, 28, wanted to 'treat' her children Mya-Renee, three, and Calvin, eight this Christmas

She bought a bike, a TV and a DVD player for both Mya-Renee, three, and Calvin, eight, and took them for a meal.

 

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The jobless mother said: 'There were hundreds of presents under the tree. Their gran passed away this year so it was nice to be able to treat them.

'They got loads of computer games for their Xbox, they got a new TV and DVD player each, new bikes and loads more.'

Special: The mother-of-two was able to buy her children 'hundreds' of gifts with the £1.700 she received from the eight companies

Special: The mother-of-two was able to buy her children 'hundreds' of gifts with the £1.700 she received from the eight companies

Struggle: The single mother, who is on benefits, claims she will not be able to buy basic necessities when she starts making the repayments

Struggle: The single mother, who is on benefits, claims she will not be able to buy basic necessities when she starts making the repayments

She will try and make the repayments with the £70 a week she has leftover after she has covered other bills.

But she is worried she will be unable to buy basic necessities for her children and has blamed Wonga for getting her into 'one big, messy, circle'.

'When I start paying back the loans I won't be able to pay the bills or buy food and drink and basic necessities.

'Then I'll start taking out more loans and it will just be one big, messy, circle.'

A spokesman for Wonga said it is not possible to take out multiple Wonga loans at once - you have to pay off a Wonga loan in full before being eligible to take out another.

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A waste of space and proud of it!

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this is the future of our country..girls like this 2 kids..by seemingly 2 different dads..no job..nothing but relying on benefits and blaming everyone else what an absolute embarassment..but what's worse is they arent embarrassed in the slightest

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Declare yourself bankrupt. Simples.

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All children both need and want at Christmas time is no different to all year round, and that is love, warmth, food and a loving comfortable family. Unfortunately all too many don't. Yes, of course children like toys at Christmas and it wouldn't be Christmas without them, but within reason, and in a few weeks the toys will be broken or discarded just like the parents have done with them. This woman, and I say woman, as she is no mother if she in the days and weeks to come cannot provide the things these children really need. So, so sad.

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Why borrow to buy sooooo many presents ? Highly unnecessary. Buy what you can afford. Kids nowadays get bored of presents very quickly. If you can't afford it, there are some very good pound shop toys you can buy or charity shops. At least kids will have something to open on the day.

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Stupid, what is she going to do next year ?, it will be tougher when she won't get loans because of bad debt , I think that she is hoping people reading about her will send her money to clear the her debt,

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Where are the dads? Maybe both family and financial planning would be appropriate. Happy days!

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Clearly makiing sure that her kids have the latest "must have" is more important than a roof over her head and food for her kids.

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I guess it just proves that benefits aren't enough to live on when you've got a growing young family to support. Shame on the tories for trying to cut them even further.

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People this stupid shouldn't be allowed benefits or the vote.

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