Magistrates cop out of proper sentence

Wandsworth Council report this case on their site but they should be disappointed by the sentence - and the magistrates' reasoning.

A benefit cheat has been prosecuted for fiddling a housing benefit claim after council fraud investigators discovered she had a bank account with £50,000 sitting in it.

Maxine Dowdie of Barringer Square, Tooting, pleaded guilty to one charge of deception when she appeared at South Western magistrates court on Friday.

The court heard that Ms Dowdie inherited £50,000 in cash following the death of a relative but omitted to tell benefits officials about the windfall.

She carried on claiming benefits and as a result fraudulently obtained £7,269 from the public purse. The deception came to light as a result of information sharing by government agencies.

As a result of her guilty plea and in the light of her paying back virtually all the money she'd swindled from taxpayers, magistrates decided not to impose a custodial sentence or a community based punishment and instead fined her £500 and ordered her to pay £750 towards the council's prosecution costs.

Housing spokesman Cllr Martin D Johnson said: "If people think they can get away with claiming benefits whilst concealing their incomes or savings, then they need to think again.

"Our investigators are actively looking for fraudsters and they have rich sources of information to help them catch those fiddling the system.

"We get lots of calls from friends, neighbours and even relatives who have absolutely no sympathy for benefit scroungers. We also share lots of information with other public bodies, like hospitals, schools and the police, so even though you may have covered your tracks in one area, another organisation will have the information that catches you out.

"Any claim made against the public purse is vigorously checked and double-checked by the council’s benefit investigators and audit team to ensure that taxpayers are not ripped off.

"These checks are carried out long after a claim is first made – often months or even years later to make sure that people claiming help and support from the public purse are still entitled to it.

"People who decide to cheat the benefits system should be under no illusion about what will happen. They will get caught, they will get a criminal record, they will have to pay the money back and they could end up in jail."