£25k benefits thief escapes jail

A benefits cheat was spared an immediate jail term when she appeared in court on her 60th birthday.

Pauline May, from Leicester, dishonestly claimed housing and council tax benefit for almost nine years by failing to declare that family friend, Alan Prentice, was living with her.

She pleaded guilty to six charges of benefit fraud at an earlier hearing. Each offence carries a maximum custodial sentence of seven years or an unlimited fine.

There was a total loss to the public purse of £24,631. She is now repaying the debt at £142 a month.

Sentencing, Judge Michael Pert said this was a "catalogue of dishonesty". Acknowledging her age, poor health and arrangement to repay the debt, she was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for a year, with supervision.