A Scottish couple who went on the run from police and were arrested in Spain after appearing on a "most wanted" list have been sentenced for fraud offences.
Anthony Kearney and Donna McCafferty were tracked down in the Costa Blanca town of Benissa way back in November 2008. At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Kearney was jailed for two years and McCafferty was given 250 hours community service.
Kearney, who is currently serving a five-year sentence for attempting to extort £35,000 from a businessman, had admitted defrauding more than £42,300 from the DWP between December 1997 and March 2004. He also admitted defrauding £10,350 from the Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank by using a false identity to take out credit cards. He also pleaded guilty to using fake company names to transfer £126,400 into an offshore account in October 2003.
McCafferty admitted defrauding more than £13,000 in housing benefit between November 1999 and March 2004. She was originally charged with a string of further frauds amounting to more than £74,000 but the Crown accepted her pleas of not guilty to these offences.
Defence advocate Simon Gilbride, representing Kearney, told the court that his client took full responsibility for the offences and that his partner's involvement was simply signing forms that he asked her to. So she got away with a small sentence.
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