I've spent all day (8+ hours) on this and got no where fast. 
Note - I have now got a work around by installing SMTP Pro Email extension where I disabled "Queue Usage" BUT I would like to use the functionality as expected by Magento, hence the question.
I would like a step-by-step guide on how to check if cron is configured correctly. Perhaps my programming skills are lacking because despite looking at various links I have not been able to resolve. The How to Setup a Cron Job didn't help me because it's not clear where/how I need to change/check settings.
My cpanel/WHM versions,
- CLOUDLINUX 6.6 x86_64 standard
- WHM 11.48.4 (build 4)
The cron_schedule has entries all in pending status and executed at NULL and finished at NULL.
The core_email_queue is showing new order entries being created but not processed i.e. states NULL
The cron job path is set for evey 5 minutes..... php /home/mandy/public_html/magento/cron.php > /dev/null
I've also got AOE Scheduler installed, and that states, No heartbeat task found. Check if cron is configured correctly. Which is what I'm trying to do! 
If anybody can enlighten me it would be appreciated!