When do we get our money back?

Four benefits cheats from the Southend area have been brought to justice.

Nita Palmer, from Leigh, admitted two benefit fraud charges dating back to April 2007, and which came to a total of £34,230. She was sentenced to seven months in jail, suspended for two years and given an electronically monitored 130-day curfew order.

In a joint operation, Southend Council and the DWP discovered Palmer had failed to declare she worked more than 25 hours a week for Virtue Fusion. As a result, she had fraudulently received benefits she was not entitled to, worth £5,977 from the council, and £28,253 from the DWP.

"She has now made arrangements to pay back the overpayment to the council."

A Westcliff couple were sentenced to 150 hours’ community service and each ordered to pay £150 costs for dishonestly claiming up to £5,929 they were not entitled to.

Ryan Doney, and wife Theresa, formerly from Westcliff, admitted failing to report their change of circumstances and making false representations. Doney enrolled as a student, but then failed to tell the council he was receiving a student bursary, and therefore dishonestly received £2,052 in housing benefit.

He and his wife then failed to inform the council they had moved to Suffolk. They claimed their address was still in Westcliff, so they received an additional £3,301 housing benefit they were not entitled to, and £575 council tax benefit. "They will have to repay all their overpaid benefits."

Simon Patient, from Southend, admitted fraudulently claiming benefits worth £6,400 since April 2007. He was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and ordered to pay £150 towards costs. "This overpayment is being recovered from his ongoing benefit entitlement."

• A happy and productive new year to all our readers, and especially to our contributors.

No jail for £23k benefit fraud

A 59-year-old woman has been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to a £23,000 benefit fraud.

Florence Lynne Simms, formerly from Higher Blackley, was sentenced for fraudulently obtaining housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support totalling £23,639.

Simms, who now lives in Prestwich, pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining benefit between July 2006 and November 2009 after failing to declare that both she and her partner had worked for various periods throughout the claims for benefits.

Along with the suspended sentence Simms was given a 200-hour unpaid work community punishment order, a 56-day curfew and a two-year supervision order.

Councillor Bernard Priest, executive member for finance for Manchester City Council, said: “This fraud was uncovered by the council’s counter fraud officers working closely with colleagues from the Department for Work and Pensions. It is a clear warning that people who claim benefits they are not entitled to will be caught and prosecuted.”

Richard Paver, City Treasurer, said: “The whole community suffers when people commit benefit fraud. It reduces the money available to those with a genuine entitlement and it also increases the burden on the council taxpayer. This case demonstrates our determination to prosecute offenders and ensure that they do not profit from their crime.

“I can assure the residents of Manchester that in addition to the penalties handed down by the courts we shall use all methods at our disposal to vigorously recover the money she has fraudulently obtained.

SPD check reveals more benefit fraud

Nafisa Noormohammed from Whalley Range has been sentenced to a 12-week jail sentence suspended for a year after pleading guilty to a £25,000 benefit fraud.

She had pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Income Support amounting to £25,467.63. Along with the suspended prison sentence she was also given a 250 hour Community Punishment Order.

Noormohammed had fraudulently obtained benefit between March 2007 and March 2010 after failing to declare that her husband was living with her. The deception was uncovered by Manchester City Council's counter fraud officers working with colleagues from the Department for Work and Pensions. They were investigating fraudulent and incorrect applications for council tax single person discount.

Councillor Bernard Priest, Executive Member for Finance for Manchester City Council, said:

This is a significant amount of money over a number of years. Our officers spotted this fraud whilst investigating applications for single person rebate for council tax. We do cross reference our investigations and this is a stark warning to people who claim money they are not entitled to that they will be found and prosecuted.

The authorities plod on

Way back in April we picked out the case of Deirdre Hynes as an example of slow administration, even then entitling our post "the wheels of justice grind slowly".

Now - eight months later - there is an update (htp Dave), telling us that she faces jail unless she pays more than £200,000 to Croydon Council and HMRC.

As we know, she falsely claimed £30,000 over a nine-year period while running three businesses, including a company exporting tea to Japan.

Only now has Croydon Council been granted a confiscation order. The decision was the culmination of a three-year investigation by the council's audit and anti-fraud team.

Investigations manager David Hogan said:

In terms of greed this is one of the most serious cases I have seen.

She is a successful businesswoman who doesn't have any previous convictions but chose to lead a life of crime purely out of greed.

Hynes thought she would get the taxpayer to pay her rent and mortgage and that she would never get caught.

At a hearing at Croydon Crown Court earlier this year, Hynes admitted 11 counts of making false representations and was sentenced to 12 months in jail suspended for 18 months.

The court heard how Hynes began claiming £6-a-week from the discretionary housing payment fund in 1996.

She declared herself a single person who was renting a room in Thornton Heath and declared two further moves to addresses in Croydon, each time resubmitting the same fraudulent benefit claims.

The council began to investigate Hynes in 2007, after it was discovered she had been paid £8,000 into an undeclared bank account.

An eight-strong anti-fraud team worked closely with HMRC officers on Hynes' case.

Data showed she had large amounts of savings, and statements for an undeclared account showed she had made substantial deposits, including one for more than £57,000. Hynes, vice president of the Speakers of Croydon club, was interviewed by police and admitted the true extent of her wealth.

Officers from the Met's payback unit found she had brought a property in Croydon (why can't data matching with the Land Registry be automatic?), valued in 2006 at £240,000, with a £135,0000 deposit.

They also found evidence of 23 other banks accounts, shares and assets totalling £320,152.

These assets were all declared the "proceeds of crime" as Hynes had failed to inform the council of her wealth when she made her original benefit claims.

Mr Hogan said: "She thought that what she was doing was beyond detection. When we interviewed her you could tell she was shocked at how far the authority could reach into her personal information. Given the level of intelligence of this woman you would expect better."

Hynes has been ordered to hand over £202,634.79. (But we are told that all £320,152 was declared the "proceeds of crime".)

Croydon Council will get the £30,000 she took in benefits, with the rest going to the treasury.

Her case features in Saints and Scroungers on BBC1 next month, which follows officers as they hunt for benefit thieves.

• After all this work, and all this time, what penalty has this criminal actually suffered? She is evidently repaying less than her "proceeds of crime", so she hasn't suffered there. No prison, not even any community service.
  
  Has she actually been punished at all?
  
  These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  Benefit thieves should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.

Overseas benefit fraud non-story

Big splash this morning for Lord Freud's shock revelation that a crackdown has been launched by the government on UK benefit thieves who live abroad.

The highest instances of fraud recorded were by people living in Spain, Pakistan, the US and Bangladesh. The government grandly claims that it has joined forces with overseas counterparts to target this.

Why should the overseas counterparts care? Could this be spin for a light news day?

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud said "abroad fraud" cost the taxpayer about £66m last year.

He said the rate of fraud was rising as more people chose to live overseas: "We are on an uphill curve."

Hm. Back in 2009 they were quoting a figure of £63m. Not much of an uphill curve, is it.

The fact is they cannot back up this spin number. And they can do very little about it.

If you're going to be serious about policing benefits, don't send them to people abroad. We can't even afford present levels of British welfare support for British people in Britain.

From the front line again

A comment from housepricecrash.co.uk

I worked at the DWP for three mind numbing years and two of those were working in the area of benefit fraud. It is such a massive problem that they only have the resources to investigate 2% of all very good leads (either from the public (about 2000 leads a week) or using their system that back ends onto the Inland Revenue that flags anyone is earning interest on savings (even if it is pennies on thousands earnt as the system ties in the interest rate to the probable balance)). Of those 2% around 1 in 4 may lead to court and then it's 50/50 whether or not the DWP gets a succesful outcome. The majority of the people who work in the DWP are nice but dim and not very productive, busy fools with very little output.

So a benefit cheat has a 99.75% chance of beating the system. Tell me do you feel lucky punk!!!!

Immigration criminal was also claiming benefits

Are we stupid? Apparently yes.

The mastermind behind an £800,000 people trafficking ring which helped more than 100 asylum seekers sneak into Britain could be freed within months, reports the Daily Mail.

Iranian-born Ferzad Pezeshk, 39, arranged fake passports and flight tickets for fellow countrymen and Afghans and wired funds around the globe.

His gang charged between £5,000 and £12,000 to smuggle people out of their homelands, offering scheduled stop-offs at hotels in the Arab Emirates, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Norway, France and Sweden.

He was jailed today for five years but he is likely to only serve only half the term - minus the 794 days he has already served on remand - meaning he could be freed in four months.

Inner London Crown Court. heard Pezeshk was given indefinite leave to remain in the UK after successfully applying for asylum in the late Nineties and claiming benefits ever since. He has enjoyed an affluent lifestyle in a four bedroom house in Barnet with a Chrysler parked in the driveway.

The married father-of-one took family holidays in Switzerland, frequently flew around the world and had installed a new £1,000 floor when he was arrested in October 2008.

The racket was smashed following an investigation by the UK Border Agency and a series of police raids at addresses in the Colindale and Hendon areas of north London.

Pezeshk admitted two charges of helping asylum seekers into the UK between January 2006 and September 2008, possessing identity documents with intent and using a false ID with intent.

Judge Simon Davis told Pezeshk: 'The authorities trusted you and granted you indefinite leave and provided for you.

'Regularly and consistently you abused that trust. You were the prime mover in a sophisticated criminal enterprise to enable asylum seekers to come to this country and you preyed on the misery and misfortune of others.'

The scam involved migrants leaving their countries secretly in lorries and staying at hotels and guest houses for up to a month before travelling to the UK.

Gang members used false credit cards to book flights for the clients via the internet.

A 'fixer' would then fly out to meet them before handing over false or stolen UK or European passports and e-boarding passes.

They would then accompany them on inter-European flights to less scrupulous smaller airports in either France or Sweden and they would then fly on to Stansted, handing their documents back to the helper.

After landing they would present themselves to the authorities and claim asylum.
 
Officers recovered 15 stolen passports including UK, Greek, Irish and American passports and Finnish identity documents and driving licenses from Pezeshk's home.

Police also found computers and documents, including worldwide Western Union credit transfers, and a pile of passport style photos and a Home Office stamp.

Financial investigations showed that Pezeshk sent in excess of £80,000 to 23 different countries on trafficking routes.

He was assisted by his brother-in-law Mohammed Amiralli, 34, and 31-year-old Ghulam Kiatavosi who earlier admitted their roles.

Amiralli, 34, of Ilford, Essex, admitted conspiracy to facilitate a non EU national into the UK for gain and earlier received nine months' jail suspended for two years, 12 month supervision order and 150 hours community service.

Kiatavosi, 30, from St John's Wood, London, admitted a like charge and was jailed for 18 months.

Detective Inspector Mark Chapman, of Operation Maxim, said: 'This was not simply a case of the more usual method of smuggling people in the backs of lorries or in the boots of cars.

'These men adopted cyber methods to make use of internet ticketing systems via false credit cards, names and addresses and provided forged identity documents to circumvent the security measures in place that help secure our borders.'

They should be deported. But it won't happen.

Church minister was benefit thief

A church minister has been described as “dishonest to the core” after he was jailed for two years for benefit fraud.

Olouwole Oso, 46, falsely claimed nearly £38,000 in housing and council tax benefit from Thurrock Council over five years.

Oso, a father-of-five, was convicted of eight counts of benefit fraud after denying all charges relating to false and forged documents, at Basildon Crown Court.

Following the jury’s guilty verdicts, Judge John Lodge said Oso was “dishonest to the core”. He said Oso’s crime was fraudulent from the outset, professionally planned, carried out over a period of time and using false identities to commit multiple frauds.

The court heard Oso created a false identity in the name of Sigismund Wealth, using a forged passport to buy a property.

Oso, of Elmway, Grays, told the court he was a pastor in a London church and so would not lie. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment on each indictment, to be served concurrently.

htp Dave

Norwich finds hundreds of false single person discount claims

A joint initiative to target Norwich residents wrongly claiming a single person discount for council tax has netted the authority almost £300,000.

The information came to light following a review of people claiming single person council tax discounts - a joint working initiative carried out by the city council and Norfolk County Council.

Data supplied by the Audit Commission as part of its annual data matching report from the National Fraud Initiative highlighted 1,583 addresses for investigation (from a total of 27,000 addresses in receipt of single person discount).

Of the 1,583 properties, which were all registered as eligible for single person discount of 25%, 848 were discovered to be falsely claiming the discount.

Following a review of these properties, the city council rebilled the residents to a total of £280,542.

Jill Healey, Norwich City’s Council’s revenue and benefits manager, said: “This was a really successful initiative for both councils to be involved with. As the collection authority for council tax, Norwich City Council is supportive of any schemes that help us to investigate and identify money that should be paid in council tax as this goes towards paying for the valuable services that residents rely on local authorities to provide.”

As part of this work the city council’s fraud team carried out a more detailed investigation into some of the households that were no longer entitled to the discount.

As a result a 42-year-old Norwich woman accepted a simple caution for an offence of failing to inform the council that she was no longer entitled to a 25 per cent discount on her council tax bill.

Hardly scratching the surface of benefit fraud

The true picture of illegal working and benefit fraud in the UK may be frightening, writes the Huddersfield Daily.

A police sergeant on the frontline has revealed that an operation in Huddersfield which found seven people suspected of working illegally and a further 18 suspected benefits cheats was “just a snowflake on the tip of a very large iceberg.’’

If people want to know where billions of pounds are wasted in this country then look no further than benefits cheats and people working while paying nothing in taxes.

No doubt tough Government action will be backed by the majority of law-abiding people who work hard, pay their taxes and yet see their disposable income and quality of life diminishing.

But will it happen with cuts to public services such as the police, councils and other enforcement agencies?

Community order for 8 year £30k benefit fraud

A Totton man has been sentenced after falsely claiming £30,000 housing and council tax benefits from New Forest District Council.

Chef Rahman Shah was given a community order to carry out 200 hours' unpaid work over 12 months and told to pay £2,500 towards prosecution costs at Winchester Crown Court where he was charged with seven offences of false accounting.

The court heard that Shah allowed his wife to falsely claim housing benefit and council tax benefit from New Forest District Council from January 2001 to April 2009, by claiming he had little or no savings when, in actual fact, he had seven bank accounts.

Council officials became suspicious of Shah's claim and commenced an investigation. The fraud investigation team uncovered bank accounts in both England and Bangladesh which Shah had failed to declare. When he was arrested, more than £23,000 in cash was recovered from his home.

The judge was told that Shah had arranged to repay the council the full £25,279.38 housing benefit and £4,813.64 council tax benefit which he had falsely claimed.

Housing benefit fraud

A Rixton benefit cheat who failed to appear at court on 1 December has now been prosecuted and ordered to repay the money. Kelly York, 28,appeared in court on 7 December after a warrant was issued for her arrest when she failed to attend the previous hearing.

She pleaded guilty to two offences of providing a false tenancy agreement and completing a housing benefit claim form stating she was a lodger in a property where she was not related to the landlord, where in fact the owner of the property was her mother. She was overpaid Housing benefit of £4327 between June 2009 and April 2010. In addition to repaying the money plus £100 costs, she will be electronically tagged for two months between 7pm and 7am.

Barnsley benefits thief gets off

This woman is poor and she had debts. When she started receiving tax credits, it was up to her to tell the Council, to get her income reduced, but the temptation to stay silent was too strong - a temptation which should not have been put in her way.

A Barnsley woman has pleaded guilty to benefit fraud, following an investigation by Barnsley Council.

Melanie Jane McNamee admitted failing to inform the council of her true financial circumstances when she appeared before Barnsley Magistrates Court on 25 November.

Mrs McNamee was investigated by Barnsley Council’s benefit investigation team for failing to inform when her wages increased and also when she started to receive working tax credits.

Mrs McNamee co-operated fully with the investigation and admitted to failing to inform the council of the changes in her circumstances in order to receive both Housing and Council Tax benefit.

When interviewed she stated that she first applied for benefit because she was on a low income and admitted she forgot to report both when her wages increased and when she started to receive an award of working tax credits.

She also admitted that there had been many opportunities for her to report the changes but added that her debts were a factor for her committing the fraud.

For court purposes the Magistrates considered an amount of overpaid benefit totalling £6067 for the period July 2008 to April 2010.

Mrs McNamee pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to declare changes in her circumstances.

She was given an 18 month conditional discharge and costs were not awarded due to her financial difficulties.

The magistrates considered Mrs McNamee’s early guilty plea and that she was full of remorse and was of previous good character. However, they did not take this lightly as a lot of money was involved. The magistrates were also made aware that Melanie Mcnamee is repaying back all the benefit she has received.

Benefit theft in Brent

Six cheats prosecuted by Brent Council cheated taxpayers out of £190,000 between them.

One benefit cheat was sent to prison for six months after defrauding a council out of £73,000. Five other cheats were hit with suspended sentences, fines, tagging, curfews and community service.

Three cheats lied about their landlords, another owned a property, a woman failed to declare her savings and a fitness instructor claimed not to work.

Maryam Tarifee, from Willesden, received the stiffest sentence with six months in prison for deception and benefit fraud, after claiming £73,762 while staying at a relative's flat.

Olabisi Shittu, from Cricklewood, was given a suspended 14 week sentence and a 12 month supervision order, after falsely claiming £39,136.

The midwife claimed her income had reduced despite working full-time with a part-time job on top.

Cllr Muhammed Butt, lead member for resources, said: “I hope this sends a clear message. We will pursue anyone who is claiming benefits they are not entitled to.

“Benefits are for the boroughs most needy residents and not to supplement the lifestyle of greedy fraudsters.”

Other fraudsters included Imran Ahmed and Erum Imran Shaikh, from Wembley, who were sentenced to a 160 hour community punishment order each and fined £1,124 legal costs after receiving £26,444.

Delia Hales-Higgins, from Kingsbury, received a suspended 22 week custodial sentence for claiming £13,797 while owning a £230,000 property.

Kim Roger, from Kensal Rise, was given a suspended ten week sentence, tagged, given a four-month curfew and ordered to pay £3,637 in costs for claiming £16,218 in benefits while having £22,000 in savings.

And Sydney Dovie, from Maida Vale, was electronically tagged given 120 hours unpaid work and a curfew for three months for claiming £18,272 while working as a fitness instructor.

Repeat benefits thief loses appeal

A St Budeaux man who repeatedly committed benefit fraud has lost his appeal against sentence – and been told he is lucky not to be going to jail.

Paul Dyson, aged 40 and from Sunny Dene, appeared at Plymouth Crown Court to ask for a condition of his sentence to be lifted.

The court heard that he had been convicted at trial of a £2,675.54 benefit fraud by not declaring income as a security guard and by claiming child tax credits for a grandchild.

The offence also breached a two-year conditional discharge imposed less than a year before for a similar offence.

Dyson was sentenced on September 23 by city magistrates to eight weeks in jail suspended for two years and given a 7pm-to-6am curfew seven days a week for six months as a punishment.

The court heard that unemployed Dyson spent £340 a month on Sky TV, cigarettes and his mobile phone.

A Probation Service report said Dyson had shown no remorse and would not take the blame for his offence. He claimed he had complex medical conditions but refused the officer permission to confirm this with his GP.

Jo Martin, for Dyson, said that unbeknown to the court, the Ministry of Defence had also stopped his war disablement pension for six months because of his crime, and that payments would not resume until next February.

She asked for the curfew to be lifted so that Dyson could seek night work as a driver or security guard to make up his income.

However, Judge Francis Gilbert QC, flanked by two magistrates, told Dyson: "You are extremely lucky that the magistrates didn't send you immediately to prison; if anything, they were lenient.

"You have lost your pension and this is part of the price you have had to pay."

He refused to award prosecution costs due to Dyson's lack of means.

What a wastrel.

h/t Dave

Big bopper was benefits thief

This case shows the nature of the enforcement problem. The guy self certified, but the DWP had to do detective work to get the conviction. With relatively few investigators to check up on huge numbers of claimants, enforcement is bound to be patchy.

A twenty stone conman who told benefit bosses he was "virtually unable to walk" starred in a tribute act to The Big Bopper.

Martyn Gillie also worked as a tour guide while unlawfully claiming more than £19,000 of disability payments over a nine-year period.

But undercover investigators caught the 52-year-old out as he belted out hits like Chantilly Lace to packed theatre audiences.

A court heard how Gillie appeared on stage as the 50s US singer on "several" occasions including in productions of Rave On — A Tribute to Buddy Holly.

And video surveillance taken by the DWP showed the 6ft 4in roly-poly rocker at a Big Bopper tribute evening.

Gillie, of Matlock, Derbys, pleaded guilty to two charges of falsely claiming benefits.

He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence at Derby Crown Court and told to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

Sentencing him, Judge David Pugsley said his claims that he was unable to walk and partially blind were "despicable".

The court heard how Gillie first claimed Disability Living Allowance in April 1996 by filling in a self-assessment form.

He was awarded the mobility component of the allowance — for those who cannot walk, find it very hard to walk or need help getting around — at the highest rate available.

Prosecutor Balvinder Bhatti said he had stated he was virtually unable to walk, suffered from osteoarthritis — a disease of the joints — and was partially sighted.

She said notices were sent out annually asking people to notify the Government if there were any changes to a person's circumstances.

But the court heard how, from September 2000, Gillie was employed by the Arkwright Society to give visitors tours of Cromford Mill and its exhibition centre and Lumsdale Valley, close to Matlock.

Peter Whiteley from the DWP told the court that although Gillie first started claiming 14 years ago, there was only evidence of dishonesty from 2000.

He said: "There were several performances of the Big Bopper tribute act. Most of them were local but we think some were further afield."

Jiles Perry Richardson Jnr aka The Big Bopper enjoyed a brief spell of stardom before his death in a plane crash on a snowy night in Iowa that also claimed the lives of Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens in February 1959.

Nicola Hunter, in mitigation, said Gillie did have "significant mobility problems" and found it difficult to walk without severe discomfort.

She said he had always had problems with his eyesight but had pushed himself into work to support his wife and three daughters.

Long-winded process just to get our money back

At Chelmsford Crown Court on 10 November, report Epping Forest District Council, convicted Benefit fraudster Simplice Yamgoue was ordered to repay £33,103.73 to them. Judge Mr Recorder Ash QC ordered the repayment of Housing and Council Tax benefit to which Mr Yamgoue was not entitled within twenty-one days, after the council successfully secured a confiscation of assets order.

Simplice Yamgoue, formerly of Roman Way, Waltham Abbey, was sentenced to 12 Months imprisonment on 8 April 2010 at Chelmsford Crown Court, after pleading guilty to three offences of Housing and Council Tax benefit fraud at a hearing on 10 March 2010. Following Mr Yamgoue’s sentencing, the council applied for a confiscation of assets order. Further investigations by the council with assistance from Essex Police revealed that the undeclared £45,000 in bonds which the prosecution was in relation to had been disposed of. Further Moneys totalling an excess of £70,000 were also discovered in bank accounts belonging to Simplice Yamgoue. The courts placed a restraint order on this money to prevent him from withdrawing or dissipating of it.

Court papers were served on Simplice Yamgoue where he has been living in Manchester since being released from prison on licence. The judge has now varied the restraint order to allow Mr Yamgoue to be able to repay the sum of £33,103.73 to the Council in the time given. However, the remaining money is still under restraint until the owed money is repaid. This is the first occasion Epping Forest District Council has used the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) to secure the return of money paid in overpaid benefits.

The Portfolio Holder responsible for Legal services, at Epping Forest District Council, Councillor Lesley Wagland said

Housing and Council Tax benefit is meant for people who genuinely need help. The Council takes benefit fraud very seriously and works very hard to investigate cases such as this. I am pleased the prosecution under the proceeds of Crime Act has been successful as the overpaid money should be recovered much sooner than would have been previously. Benefit Fraudsters should not be allowed to make a profit from their crime when they were not entitled to the money in the first place.

• It shouldn't be this complex and time consuming.
  
  Benefit thieves should have to repay twice what they've stolen, and should not be eligible for any further benefits – including tax credits - until they have.
  
  A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.

Benefit thief intimidated witness

A benefit swindler who threatened to kill a council worker's husband has "narrowly" (says thisisdevon) avoided jail.

Cameron Provan, from Sticklepath, was given a suspended prison sentence at a crown court hearing in Barnstaple after pleading guilty to two charges of benefit fraud and one charge of intimidating a witness.

Provan, who had a history of benefit fraud, shouted at Kim Trodd, who worked in the benefit department at North Devon Council, in the street after she gave a statement about his circumstances.

Her statement had supported the finding that Provan and his partner, Heidi Lawrence, who had pretended to be living as landlord and tenant, had cheated more than £16,500 in benefits over eight years, the court heard.

Lawrence, 32, a care worker at Chelfham Mill School, which helps boys with emotional and behavioural problems, was sentenced to 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £1,560 compensation at an earlier hearing.

Provan was due to be sentenced in October but probation could not prepare a report because he had been "difficult to handle", the court heard.

The hearing this week was told Provan had approached Mrs Trodd in a street near their home on August 26.

Provan lived on the same housing estate in Roundswell.

Provan repeatedly swore at her and said he was going to kill Mrs Trodd's husband, the court heard.

Mrs Pitts said: "The whole incident has left her family very shaken up.

"Her husband is withdrawn. They have to lock their doors and she worries whenever someone knocks on her door."

For the defence, Nigel Wraith said Provan had an "emotional outburst" but had not tried to pursue Mrs Trodd or stop her attending court.

Mr Wraith said Provan suffered paranoia and anxiety, problems exacerbated by his £200-a-month cannabis habit.

He said: "He wants to start making a contribution to society and being a good father. He wants closure on the past 30 years of his life." (He is 39.)

Recorder Corinne Searle sentenced Provan to 200 hours of unpaid work for each offence to run concurrently.

For intimidating a witness Provan was given a four-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a two-year supervision order.

A 12-month restraining order was made to stop Provan approaching or contacting the Trodd family.

He was made to pay £80 costs.

Miss Searle said: "I think the court is taking a bit of a risk with you. The report says the court needs to be convinced you are committed to changing your ways. I hope you do not disappoint."

Suspended sentence for benefit thief

Benefit cheat Emma Walker claimed more than £55,000 in benefits by not telling the authorities she was married.

The 34-year-old mother legitimately claimed housing and council tax benefit and income support from 2002, as she was a lone parent following her divorce.

But she continued to receive the handouts after she married William Dunn.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday heard Stoke-on-Trent City Council carried out a review of Walker's payments in January 2007.

The review led to her relationship with Mr Dunn being investigated.

She made a statement saying Mr Dunn was a friend, but denied they were married.

The court heard that in August 2008, a benefit fraud investigator visited Walker at her home and saw Mr Dunn there.

Robert McMaster, prosecuting for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), said: "The investigation revealed they were married."

Walker was interviewed and volunteered that she was married to Mr Dunn. She said he did not always live at the address, but accepted she had failed to report a change in her circumstances.

Walker, from Sneyd Green, pleaded guilty to six charges of dishonestly failing to give prompt notification of a change in her circumstances in relation to benefit claims.

Her pleas were tended on a basis that her claim was initially legitimate and she failed to notify the relevant departments when they married.

He did not live with her all the time and when he did he was not working or earned less than £100 a week.

The court heard Walker received £37,333 income support, £15,808 housing benefit and £3,529 council tax; a total of £56,672.

But because she would have been entitled to some benefits the overpayment was about £30,000, the court heard.

Judge Mark Eades sentenced Walker, who has no previous convictions, to 24 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, with two years' supervision and 150 hours' unpaid work.

She must also attend 16 sessions at Chepstow House in Hanley, which aims to help women get their lives back on track.

Judge Eades told Walker: "Those who take advantage of the benefits system get something for nothing.

"They take money out of the system and as a result there is less money for other people who are needy and are deserving assistance. It is not a victimless crime. That is why the public regard it as mean and unpleasant."

A visitor comments

I used to work as a debt collector and would always get the excuse that a debtor couldn't pay because they were living off of benefits in a council house. That meant nothing to me, and always asked for 3 months worth of recent bank statements as proof of financial hardship. In 3 years I never came across a single council house tenant who was not 'earning' at least £3k per month, usually from a combination of benefits and online business and/or property rental incomes. If this method was used to assess everybody on benefits, handouts would reduce considerably.

(PS. I reported numerous tenants to the local authorities' fraud departments asking them to reply if they wished further information and supporting evidence. None responded.)

Contrasting benefit fraud sentences

Tina Slater, from Bretton, has appeared at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced for falsely claiming nearly £11,000 in housing and council tax benefits. She claimed on the basis that she was unemployed, but she was actually working while claiming the benefits between September 2006 and January 2009. She was given a six-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £85 in costs. She will also have to pay back the money she claimed fraudulently.

But Jonathon Butler from Hartford has been sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment for benefit fraud amounting to more than £8,000, again for claiming while employed.

The court sentenced him to eight weeks imprisonment reduced from 12 weeks. Butler is also required to repay the overpaid benefit, amounting to £8,224 to both the council and the Department of Works and Pensions.

£58k benefit fraudster jailed

A Colchester mother who collected more than £58,000 in false benefit claims has been jailed for two years.

Claire Morris, 36, will be in prison for the birth of her first grandchild after lying to earn tax credits and financial support over a five-year period.

Morris was in breach of two suspended sentences imposed for theft and deception convictions handed down in 2001 and 2003. A judge at Ipswich Crown Court said on Friday that the time had come for Morris to go to prison.

The court heard Morris began claiming undue benefits in 2002, a month after being warned about the consequences of fraudulent claims.

Over the next five years, the proceeds funded an overseas wedding trip, a family holiday to Center Parcs and the purchase of a Mercedes car.

Morris had denied nine fraud charges, amounting to £58,104.38 of false claims, but was found guilty by a jury on September 30.

The court heard that for five months in 2002 and three months in 2006, she made no false claims, but on both occasions her dishonesty resumed.

Morris has a pregnant 20-year-old daughter and two younger children for whom she pays monthly child support of £240.

She was caring for two other children while claiming to be a single parent, but in fact actually had a partner who earned a £28,000 salary.

Judge John Holt told Morris: “This money allowed you to live a comfortable lifestyle.

“You dishonestly failed to reveal you had a partner, with whom you had a considerable combined income. You knew precisely what you were doing.

“You brazenly asserted that you were a single parent and that brazenness was the feature of your defence in front of a jury.

“The time has clearly come for you to go to prison.”

Morris was jailed for 12 months and received consecutive nine-month and three-month terms for breaching suspended sentences.

‘Poor’ Tottenham TV mum was benefits thief

A woman who starred in a reality documentary about her family’s financial trouble had raked in £5,000 in bogus benefits claims.

Charlene Isaac and her family appeared on the Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall show How The Other Half Live where their life in Tottenham was contrasted with that of a wealthy family in the Lake District.

Shortly after the programme aired, the family moved to south London with the financial support of the family they had befriended through the TV show.

But they left owing £4,998 in false claims for housing benefits.

Isaac has now been ordered to pay back the money, claimed between September 2008 and March 2010.

She was also receiving working tax credit and child tax credit at the time, which would have affected her claim.

When Haringey Council detected the overpayments she claimed she didn’t know she had to inform the council of any change to her circumstances.

But Isaac then ignored requests to pay the debt and moved to south London without returning a penny.

She refused to attend court hearings and was eventually arrested, brought before the courts and was convicted of failing to notify the council of a change in circumstances.

She was ordered to repay the full amount at a minimum of £100 per month, and was given a 12-month conditional discharge.

Councillor Joe Goldberg, cabinet member for finance and sustainability, said: “It is hugely disappointing that Ms Isaac tried to hide the truth of her benefits claims, and it is sad that she accepted financial support from another family while cheating the welfare system in Haringey.

“It is incredibly unfair on the vast majority of residents – who are honest and work hard to get by in often challenging circumstances – when people like this take advantage of a system which is in place to help those in need."

“Where people are struggling to make ends meet, we will do all we can to support them, but we can’t turn a blind eye to benefits fraud which impacts on everyone who treats the system fairly.”

• Despite her cynical deceit, really she hasn't been punished at all.
  
  These people do it for the money. So hit them in the pocket. It was money that motivated them, and a financial penalty will help to deter them.
  
  Everyone convicted of benefit fraud who doesn't go to prison 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. A confiscation order should be automatic and immediate.
  
  If you don't punish people who are convicted of an easy crime, the offence will continue to look attractive.