Castle Point Council became suspicious during a benefit review in 2006. It found Byrne had given birth the previous year, and the birth certificate showed the father living at the same address. Byrne claimed the baby’s father lived elsewhere, but would stay with her three or four times a week.
However, an investigation by the council and the DWP found he had a number of links to the property, his main postal address. When faced with the evidence, Byrne, who now lives in Canvey, admitted the couple had been living together since 2005.
As well as being ordered to pay back all the money, Byrne was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 180 hours of unpaid work. She was ordered to pay £150 towards the prosecution costs and complete a 25-day employment, training and education scheme to help offenders improve their skills and get work.
- People convicted of benefit fraud who don't receive a custodial sentence should have to do unpaid work.
Benefit thieves should also have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have.
Or where's the deterrent?
2 comments:
Perhaps we need a different benefit system, not a different legal system.
Hi marksany
Good point - actually we need both. The present restrictions are largely unenforceable. A government concerned to uncover the problem rather than hide it would blitz one corner of the system to get a firm handle (sorry about the mixed metaphor) on the amount of fraud there. You could then extrapolate.
But realistic public numbers are the last thing this government wants.
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