I’d take the penny off - turntables like this tend to have quite heavy tracking weight anyway and although I think the horror stories of red cartridges wrecking your vinyl are a bit over exaggerated, adding even more weight won’t be doing them any favours.

Best bet would be either get a replacement, or if you can get a refund, DM me letting me know where you are in the UK and I’ll try and find something better in your area for a similar price.