Julie Button appeared at Ipswich Crown Court after previously being convicted of charges of deception and making false declarations to obtain benefit.
Sentencing Button, Judge Peter Thompson said that over a period of five years and three months she had been “totally dishonest”.
He added that the 18-month sentence was the most lenient he could give as a deterrent, so future offenders did not think they could cheat those who pay their taxes.
Button had made claims to income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit as a lone parent, but in fact she was living with her partner who was in full-time work as a lorry driver.
The period of the fraud was extensive as it started in October 2001 and involved fraudulent claims made when Button lived in the Stowmarket, Colchester and Basildon areas.
Court records now list the 43-year-old, a mother to children aged four and ten, as living in Dagenham.
- What about paying us back?
People convicted of benefit fraud should have to repay twice the amount and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have.
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