More single person frauds

A six-month suspended prison sentence has been handed down to a benefits cheat after she admitted pocketing nearly £17,000 in false claims.

Josephine Schofield, from Netherfield, pleaded guilty to claiming income support and housing benefit as a single person, when she had, in fact, been living with her husband since June 2007.

Schofield, 54, also admitted she failed to declare two periods of work and provided a tenancy agreement in support of her application which was not a genuine document.

As well as the suspended sentence, Hastings magistrates ordered Schofield to complete 240 hours of unpaid work and awarded £75 costs.

"Schofield is repaying the housing benefit overpayment by instalments."

Separately, a woman from Fallowfield has pleaded guilty to benefit fraud after dishonestly obtaining more than £17,000.

31-year old Michelle Cleere was charged with fraudulently obtaining Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Income Support between April 2008 and November 2009 after failing to declare she was living with her partner.

The city council's counter fraud officers, working together with colleagues from the DWP, uncovered the offences following a data matching exercise designed to detect fraudulent and incorrect payment of benefit.

Richard Paver, City Treasurer, said, "in addition to the penalties handed down by the courts we shall use all methods at our disposal to vigorously recover the money this woman fraudulently obtained". No court order then.