Sentencing laws that meant a £12,000 benefits cheat could not be sent to jail have been condemned as pathetic by a judge.
Beverley Lunt said it was wrong that the maximum term she could impose on Darren Blagboro was 12 weeks behind bars.
And because the double-glazing salesman had admitted fraud, she had to reduce that sentence and, in the end, suspend it completely.
‘Some may think it’s pathetic and that includes me,’ said Judge Lunt.
The judge said the 12-week starting sentence was itself ‘ridiculously low’ for the theft of taxpayers’ money.
But she complained she had to follow the Sentencing Guidelines Council, which advises the judiciary on what punishments to impose.
She was obliged to give the 27-year-old credit – in this case a reduction of a third – for his guilty plea, which took the sentence down to eight weeks.
Guidelines say that a jail term of a ‘question of weeks’ should normally be suspended, meaning Blagboro walked free from Burnley Crown Court.
The defendant, who was already subject to a suspended prison term for an unrelated matter, received eight weeks in custody, suspended for a year, with 100 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Lunt told him: ‘You diverted taxpayers’ money from people who really needed it, people who were in desperate straits. It’s disgraceful and you know it.’
Blagboro, of Cowling, near Keighley in West Yorkshire, had admitted fraud and allegations of making a false representation to obtain benefits.
The hearing was told he was paying back the money he had dishonestly claimed.
William Beardmore, prosecuting for the Department for Work and Pensions, said the defendant accepted he had been dishonest in failing to tell benefits staff that he had a job.
He started working for the glazing firm Safestyle UK on a self-employed basis in spring 2008 while still claiming jobseekers’ allowance, income support, council tax and housing benefits.
For 17 months – between April 2008 and September 2009 – he pocketed £12,701 that he was not entitled to.
In mitigation, defence counsel Jeremy Lasker said: ‘He was extremely financially pressed.
‘That’s no excuse, I appreciate. More importantly, he appreciates it, but that’s how these offences began.’
He told the court that Blagboro, who had 12 previous convictions, had recently landed a job at Anglian Windows and lived with one of his children.
In January, Judge Peter Bowers condemned ‘remarkably lenient’ guidelines that saw him jail Stephen Chase for just four months.
The Teesside 36-year-old had pocketed almost £26,000 by claiming he was unfit for work over a five-year in which he held down a number of jobs.
Also this year, the Daily Mail told how Judge Lunt had rejected pleas to spare pregnant Czech woman Nadesa Mirgova, 26, jail for taking part in a sham marriage with a Nigerian so he could stay in Britain.
And last month Judge John Walford complained that Stanley Clifton, a 31-year-old former alcoholic, couldn’t be given community service for assault because he was on incapacity benefit.
30 Mar 2011
And now more Nuttalls
A benefit cheat who pocketed nearly £30,000 after claiming he couldn’t walk has been jailed – after being caught on film dismantling a trailer with a power tool.
George Nuttall, 49, said he could only walk with crutches. But DWP investigators took secret video footage of him using an angle-grinder.
The covert film was used in a prosecution which saw Nuttall jailed at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court. His wife, Julie, who also claimed she couldn’t walk unaided, was given a suspended jail sentence. The hearing was told the only time he used crutches was when he was charged and came to court.
Martin Reid, prosecuting, said that during the months Nuttall and his wife were being watched in late 2008 and early 2009, Nuttall was also prosecuted for an assault on a police officer, when he was described as being ‘very agile’.
See the covert film showing the couple here ... it was indeed taken in late 2008 and early 2009, so goodness knows what's been happening for the past two years.
Sentencing George Nuttall to 18 weeks in prison, Judge Jonathan Geake said: "Quite clearly you were able to get physically involved in a fight, making nonsense of your claim.
"You pretended to use crutches in a deliberate and blatant fraud upon the public purse. In cases motivated by laziness and greed, the public ought to know people will be punished."
Nuttall and his 45-year-old wife, of Linden Avenue, Greenacres, Oldham, together wrongly claimed more than £54,000 in disability living allowance over six years. The court was told the couple, who both pleaded guilty to failing to notify the DWP of a change in circumstances, had been overpaid between 2003 and 2009.
They had initially been entitled to the money, but there had been an improvement in the condition of both.
George Nuttall had claimed he was virtually unable to walk unattended and needed someone with him all the time. Julie Nuttall, who received part of her benefit as a Motability car, said the same.
But both were watched walking relatively normally. Julie Nuttall was seen walking unattended, even in icy conditions, and her husband was observed walking ‘quite briskly’, bending and stretching without apparent difficulty, and carrying tools including welding equipment. The only time he was seen using crutches was on December 8, 2008, when he had to go to Oldham County Court and thought he might be seen by someone in authority.
Over the six years, George Nuttall was overpaid £28,598 in Disability Living Allowance and his wife £25,823. Judge Geake handed Julie Nuttall, who was also observed walking normally, an eight-week suspended prison sentence after hearing she had been of previous good character - because she hadn't been caught for six years.
George Nuttall, 49, said he could only walk with crutches. But DWP investigators took secret video footage of him using an angle-grinder.
The covert film was used in a prosecution which saw Nuttall jailed at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court. His wife, Julie, who also claimed she couldn’t walk unaided, was given a suspended jail sentence. The hearing was told the only time he used crutches was when he was charged and came to court.
Martin Reid, prosecuting, said that during the months Nuttall and his wife were being watched in late 2008 and early 2009, Nuttall was also prosecuted for an assault on a police officer, when he was described as being ‘very agile’.
See the covert film showing the couple here ... it was indeed taken in late 2008 and early 2009, so goodness knows what's been happening for the past two years.
Sentencing George Nuttall to 18 weeks in prison, Judge Jonathan Geake said: "Quite clearly you were able to get physically involved in a fight, making nonsense of your claim.
"You pretended to use crutches in a deliberate and blatant fraud upon the public purse. In cases motivated by laziness and greed, the public ought to know people will be punished."
Nuttall and his 45-year-old wife, of Linden Avenue, Greenacres, Oldham, together wrongly claimed more than £54,000 in disability living allowance over six years. The court was told the couple, who both pleaded guilty to failing to notify the DWP of a change in circumstances, had been overpaid between 2003 and 2009.
They had initially been entitled to the money, but there had been an improvement in the condition of both.
George Nuttall had claimed he was virtually unable to walk unattended and needed someone with him all the time. Julie Nuttall, who received part of her benefit as a Motability car, said the same.
But both were watched walking relatively normally. Julie Nuttall was seen walking unattended, even in icy conditions, and her husband was observed walking ‘quite briskly’, bending and stretching without apparent difficulty, and carrying tools including welding equipment. The only time he was seen using crutches was on December 8, 2008, when he had to go to Oldham County Court and thought he might be seen by someone in authority.
Over the six years, George Nuttall was overpaid £28,598 in Disability Living Allowance and his wife £25,823. Judge Geake handed Julie Nuttall, who was also observed walking normally, an eight-week suspended prison sentence after hearing she had been of previous good character - because she hadn't been caught for six years.
29 Mar 2011
£88k benefit fraud brings jail
A Timperley couple have admitted falsely claiming over £88,000 in benefits.
At Manchester Crown Court on March 17, Susan Pullan, 43, was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Pullan was also ordered to repay the £88,751 that she falsely claimed.
Her partner Alexander MacAngus, 52 - who she had claimed was her landlord in a property she actually owned - was given a 12-week sentence suspended for 12 months and 200 hours community service.
They had both pleaded guilty on December 6 at Manchester Crown Court.
Well she owns a property, so perhaps this time we will be repaid after all.
At Manchester Crown Court on March 17, Susan Pullan, 43, was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Pullan was also ordered to repay the £88,751 that she falsely claimed.
Her partner Alexander MacAngus, 52 - who she had claimed was her landlord in a property she actually owned - was given a 12-week sentence suspended for 12 months and 200 hours community service.
They had both pleaded guilty on December 6 at Manchester Crown Court.
Well she owns a property, so perhaps this time we will be repaid after all.
28 Mar 2011
Jail for benefit thief after slow investigation
Benefit thief Susan Nuttall has been jailed after she was paid nearly £44,000 she was not eligible for.
The 49-year-old grandmother even went on holiday to Tenerife while claiming handouts from the state.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Nuttall legitimately claimed income support and housing and council tax benefit from 1995 on the basis she was a lone parent and there was no income coming into the household.
But in 2008 Stoke-on-Trent City Council received information that she was living with Michael Kerrigan.
Ben Mills, prosecuting for the DWP, told the court that Mr Kerrigan used Nuttall's home address as his address and indicated to his employers that she was his next of kin.
And his wages were paid into a joint back account the couple shared.
"There was no doubt they were living as husband and wife," said Mr Mills.
Investigators also discovered that the pair went on holiday to Tenerife in September 2008.
Mr Mills added that in December 2005 Nuttall informed the council her son had moved out.
"But she kept quiet her husband was living there," said Mr Mills.
Nuttall was interviewed in September 2008.
But despite the overwhelming evidence against her she told the investigators lies.
In February 2009 she wrote a small statement to the council saying Mr Kerrigan was then staying at her house and she was not entitled to benefits.
Nuttall, who was of previous good character, pleaded guilty to two charges of benefit fraud.
The court was told Nuttall was overpaid nearly £44,000 between October 2005 and February 2009.
Catherine O'Reilly, mitigating, said Nuttall has started to repay the money.
She said the defendant is the main carer for her son who has mental health difficulties. And her daughter's three children spend a considerable amount of time at her home because her daughter has an alcohol addiction.
Miss O'Reilly asked Judge Simon Tonking to consider suspending any prison sentence.
But the judge said it was not a case where suspending the sentence was appropriate and he jailed Nuttall for four months.
Judge Tonking told the defendant: "I accept your claims for income support and housing and council tax benefit began legitimately and honestly. You were then separated and were a single parent.
"But the time came in 2005 when that was not the situation.
You were living with Mr Kerrigan and you failed to notify the authorities that that was so.
"But your financial affairs were run, including the taking of a holiday, together.
"I am in no doubt at all that you knew exactly the score and that you had to report the fact that you were living with him."
Judge Tonking added: "This was deliberate and brazen fraud against the DWP which is an offence committed against the taxpayer, which means it is the public.
"Over three-and-a-half years you obtained benefits of nearly £44,000 to which you were not entitled at all or in part.
"It is so serious neither a fine of a community sentence can be justified."
Nuttall will serve up to half the sentence in jail before she is released on licence.
The 49-year-old grandmother even went on holiday to Tenerife while claiming handouts from the state.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Nuttall legitimately claimed income support and housing and council tax benefit from 1995 on the basis she was a lone parent and there was no income coming into the household.
But in 2008 Stoke-on-Trent City Council received information that she was living with Michael Kerrigan.
Ben Mills, prosecuting for the DWP, told the court that Mr Kerrigan used Nuttall's home address as his address and indicated to his employers that she was his next of kin.
And his wages were paid into a joint back account the couple shared.
"There was no doubt they were living as husband and wife," said Mr Mills.
Investigators also discovered that the pair went on holiday to Tenerife in September 2008.
Mr Mills added that in December 2005 Nuttall informed the council her son had moved out.
"But she kept quiet her husband was living there," said Mr Mills.
Nuttall was interviewed in September 2008.
But despite the overwhelming evidence against her she told the investigators lies.
In February 2009 she wrote a small statement to the council saying Mr Kerrigan was then staying at her house and she was not entitled to benefits.
Nuttall, who was of previous good character, pleaded guilty to two charges of benefit fraud.
The court was told Nuttall was overpaid nearly £44,000 between October 2005 and February 2009.
Catherine O'Reilly, mitigating, said Nuttall has started to repay the money.
She said the defendant is the main carer for her son who has mental health difficulties. And her daughter's three children spend a considerable amount of time at her home because her daughter has an alcohol addiction.
Miss O'Reilly asked Judge Simon Tonking to consider suspending any prison sentence.
But the judge said it was not a case where suspending the sentence was appropriate and he jailed Nuttall for four months.
Judge Tonking told the defendant: "I accept your claims for income support and housing and council tax benefit began legitimately and honestly. You were then separated and were a single parent.
"But the time came in 2005 when that was not the situation.
You were living with Mr Kerrigan and you failed to notify the authorities that that was so.
"But your financial affairs were run, including the taking of a holiday, together.
"I am in no doubt at all that you knew exactly the score and that you had to report the fact that you were living with him."
Judge Tonking added: "This was deliberate and brazen fraud against the DWP which is an offence committed against the taxpayer, which means it is the public.
"Over three-and-a-half years you obtained benefits of nearly £44,000 to which you were not entitled at all or in part.
"It is so serious neither a fine of a community sentence can be justified."
Nuttall will serve up to half the sentence in jail before she is released on licence.
25 Mar 2011
£35k benefit thief walks free
A fraudster who spent a £100,000 inheritance on a terminally-ill friend to allow him to live his last days in the Canary Islands has been allowed to walk free from prison.
The Crown Court heard that while his friend lived out his days on Lanzarote, 52-year-old David Laurence Foley remained in Belfast, claiming almost £36,000 in income support and housing benefit on his Russell Court home.
Freeing him, Judge Gemma Loughran said that fraudster Foley knew exactly what he was doing when claiming benefits he wasn't entitled to and had behaved in a totally reprenhensible and dishonest way.
Prosecution lawyer Jonathan Lowry said that in September 2005 Foley received a £96,000 inheritance but failed to tell the authorities of the windfall, continuing to claim benefits, amounting to £35,698 for income support and housing.
Mr Lowry added that normally confiscation proceedings would be taken against such fraudsters in an effort to recoup benefits, but not in Foley's case, as he has no discernable assets.
Mr Quinn said that the inheritance Foley received from his godmother was largely spent on a life-long terminally-ill friend to live out the last 13 months of his life on the island of Lanzarote.
The lawyer added that when Foley, who stayed in Belfast, initially began claiming benefits he was entitled to them, and the problem only arose when he had to renew his application and failed to inform the authorities of the change in his circumstances.
htp Dave
The Crown Court heard that while his friend lived out his days on Lanzarote, 52-year-old David Laurence Foley remained in Belfast, claiming almost £36,000 in income support and housing benefit on his Russell Court home.
Freeing him, Judge Gemma Loughran said that fraudster Foley knew exactly what he was doing when claiming benefits he wasn't entitled to and had behaved in a totally reprenhensible and dishonest way.
Prosecution lawyer Jonathan Lowry said that in September 2005 Foley received a £96,000 inheritance but failed to tell the authorities of the windfall, continuing to claim benefits, amounting to £35,698 for income support and housing.
Mr Lowry added that normally confiscation proceedings would be taken against such fraudsters in an effort to recoup benefits, but not in Foley's case, as he has no discernable assets.
Defence lawyer Declan Quinn said Foley was repaying the authorities just under £20 a week from Disability Living Allowance he receives for alcoholism and depression.
Mr Quinn said that the inheritance Foley received from his godmother was largely spent on a life-long terminally-ill friend to live out the last 13 months of his life on the island of Lanzarote.
The lawyer added that when Foley, who stayed in Belfast, initially began claiming benefits he was entitled to them, and the problem only arose when he had to renew his application and failed to inform the authorities of the change in his circumstances.
htp Dave
24 Mar 2011
Light sentences for single person frauds
Two people have been convicted in separate cases after fraudulently claiming more than £42,000 in benefits by failing to declare a change in their circumstances.
Christopher Brown, from Somercotes, claimed more than £24,000 in council tax benefit, housing benefit and income support over a period of two years and nine months. Mr Brown falsely claimed the benefits for nearly three years until an anonymous tip off to Amber Valley Borough Council’s Benefit Investigation Unit revealed he had been living with his partner since 2007.
Mr Brown admitted three offences under the Social Security Administration Act and was given 16 weeks custody, suspended for 12 months, as well as a Community Order for 150 hours of unpaid work.
In a separate case, a 27-year-old mother of two was convicted after she falsely claimed more than £17,500 in the same benefits. Emma Codling, of Cedar Avenue in Alfreton, pleaded guilty to failing to declare a change in her circumstances after an investigation revealed she was living with her partner despite claiming to be living alone as single parent for a period of two years and seven months. She was given a 12 month Community Order after admitting three offences under the Social Security Administration Act.
Both cases were heard at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court and arrangements were made in each to pay back the benefits fraudulently claimed in instalments.
Christopher Brown, from Somercotes, claimed more than £24,000 in council tax benefit, housing benefit and income support over a period of two years and nine months. Mr Brown falsely claimed the benefits for nearly three years until an anonymous tip off to Amber Valley Borough Council’s Benefit Investigation Unit revealed he had been living with his partner since 2007.
Mr Brown admitted three offences under the Social Security Administration Act and was given 16 weeks custody, suspended for 12 months, as well as a Community Order for 150 hours of unpaid work.
In a separate case, a 27-year-old mother of two was convicted after she falsely claimed more than £17,500 in the same benefits. Emma Codling, of Cedar Avenue in Alfreton, pleaded guilty to failing to declare a change in her circumstances after an investigation revealed she was living with her partner despite claiming to be living alone as single parent for a period of two years and seven months. She was given a 12 month Community Order after admitting three offences under the Social Security Administration Act.
Both cases were heard at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates Court and arrangements were made in each to pay back the benefits fraudulently claimed in instalments.
- With millions of people on benefits, it's utterly impossible to police their living arrangements. Enforcement is time consuming, and in the highly unlikely event you get caught, the sentences are not a great deterrent.
23 Mar 2011
Benefit theft in East Grinstead
A woman from East Grinstead has been prosecuted and sentenced after fraudulently claiming over £11,500 of allowances from Jobcentre Plus and nearly £800 of Housing and Council Tax Benefit from Mid Sussex District Council.
Cassandra MacCallum claimed benefits from Jobcentre Plus and Mid Sussex District Council on the basis that she was unemployed. However, Ms MacCallum, 47, worked as a cleaner and later as a shop worker between January 2005 and March 2008. Ms MacCallum neglected to inform Jobcentre Plus or Mid Sussex District Council of this employment and, as a result, was overpaid £11,637 of Income Support, £609 of Housing Benefit and £187 in Council Tax Benefit.
Ms MacCallum pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court on Friday 4 February 2011 and was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Thursday 3 March. She was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to undergo supervision by a probation officer for one year. Ms MacCallum is also required to pay back all of the overpaid benefit. Yes, yes.
Cassandra MacCallum claimed benefits from Jobcentre Plus and Mid Sussex District Council on the basis that she was unemployed. However, Ms MacCallum, 47, worked as a cleaner and later as a shop worker between January 2005 and March 2008. Ms MacCallum neglected to inform Jobcentre Plus or Mid Sussex District Council of this employment and, as a result, was overpaid £11,637 of Income Support, £609 of Housing Benefit and £187 in Council Tax Benefit.
Ms MacCallum pleaded guilty at Lewes Crown Court on Friday 4 February 2011 and was sentenced at Hove Crown Court on Thursday 3 March. She was sentenced to 20 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to undergo supervision by a probation officer for one year. Ms MacCallum is also required to pay back all of the overpaid benefit. Yes, yes.
- 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.
22 Mar 2011
Tales of benefit fraud
A former Shropshire pub landlord has been handed a 12-month community order after falsely claiming £10,291 in various benefits.
A Gwent man fraudulently claimed £16,000 in benefits between 2006 and 2009 despite his wife having thousands of pounds in the bank, and received concurrent prison sentences of three months for each offence, suspended for 12 months. A further hearing to consider an application under the proceeds of crime act against Clarke will take place later in the year. Get a move on!
And benefit fraud investigators in Bristol are facing a 20% reduction in staffing due to expected public spending cuts.
htp Dave
A Gwent man fraudulently claimed £16,000 in benefits between 2006 and 2009 despite his wife having thousands of pounds in the bank, and received concurrent prison sentences of three months for each offence, suspended for 12 months. A further hearing to consider an application under the proceeds of crime act against Clarke will take place later in the year. Get a move on!
And benefit fraud investigators in Bristol are facing a 20% reduction in staffing due to expected public spending cuts.
htp Dave
21 Mar 2011
Government conceals extent of tax credit fraud
This parliamentary question was tabled this month:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much working tax credit has been overpaid due to fraudulent claims in each of the last five years.And answer came there almost none (my emphasis):
The latest published estimates show levels of tax credits error and fraud of 8.9% in 2008-09. HMRC do not record the levels of error and fraud within working tax credit and child tax credit separately. HMRC has a target to reduce the combined levels of error and fraud to no more than 5% by the end of March 2011.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publish its error and fraud statistics on its website. The most recent information is for 2008-09 and can be found at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/cwtcredits-error0809.pdf
The Trust Statement that accompanied HMRC's 2009-10 accounts explains in more detail how the Department measures the overall level of tax credits error and fraud, published at:
www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/hmrc-accs-0910.pdf
HMRC published a joint strategy with the Department for Work and Pensions to help drive down error and fraud across the benefits and tax credits system. The publication can be found at:
www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/tackling-fraud-and-error.pdf
18 Mar 2011
Jail for £70k benefit fraud
A man has been sent to jail for 10 months after falsely claiming £70,000 in benefits over eight years, even though he had a job.
Samuel Johnson, 52, from High Wycombe, pleaded guilty to failing to notify notifiable change of circumstances.
He fraudulently claimed £33,739 in housing and council tax benefit from Wycombe District Council and £36,931 in incapacity benefit from the the Department for Works and Pensions.
Johnson had been claiming benefits for more than eight years but failed to declare his 36 hours a week £20,000 a year job on his benefit claim.
Samuel Johnson, 52, from High Wycombe, pleaded guilty to failing to notify notifiable change of circumstances.
He fraudulently claimed £33,739 in housing and council tax benefit from Wycombe District Council and £36,931 in incapacity benefit from the the Department for Works and Pensions.
Johnson had been claiming benefits for more than eight years but failed to declare his 36 hours a week £20,000 a year job on his benefit claim.
17 Mar 2011
Get a family and get away with it
A Bedford mother of five who swindled more than £76,000 in benefits over five years has been spared jail for the sake of her young family.
Judge Barbara Mensah told 35-year-old Emma Brown that "her children would suffer most" if she went into custody.
Brown had failed to notify the authorities that her partner had moved in with her, and kept up the lie from January 2004 until June 2009, when the fraud was uncovered, said prosecutor Andrew Morton.
And it comes to court in 2011.
She pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to notify a change of circumstances and four charges of making false statements to obtain benefit on Friday 11 March. Brown was given a nine month prison sentence suspended for 12 months with supervision and 150 hours unpaid work.
Mr Morton told Luton Crown Court that she had initially had a genuine claim for benefit but the Department and Work and Pensions later discovered that in 2004 her partner had given her address to his new employer.
Other investigations were made with banks and employers and surveillance was kept outside the house.
He said she had been overpaid £52,397 in income support and £24,422 in housing and council tax benefit.
Mr Seghin Kong, defending, said: "This is a source of heart breaking shame. There is no evidence of a lavish life style, and she really just buried her head in the sand." Poor dear. He said she was repaying the benefit at £74 a month.
Judge Barbara Mensah told Brown; "The courts take these offences seriously because the victim is the public purse and the rest of the community.
"Custody is the normal starting point as a warning to anyone else who is thinking of committing this type of offence. The public should not think that by not sending you to prison means the courts are going soft, because they most certainly are not.
"The only reason I am not sending you to prison is your personal circumstances and your very young family who would suffer most. It is difficult to see how this vast sum of money is every going to be repaid."
Judge Barbara Mensah told 35-year-old Emma Brown that "her children would suffer most" if she went into custody.
Brown had failed to notify the authorities that her partner had moved in with her, and kept up the lie from January 2004 until June 2009, when the fraud was uncovered, said prosecutor Andrew Morton.
And it comes to court in 2011.
She pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to notify a change of circumstances and four charges of making false statements to obtain benefit on Friday 11 March. Brown was given a nine month prison sentence suspended for 12 months with supervision and 150 hours unpaid work.
Mr Morton told Luton Crown Court that she had initially had a genuine claim for benefit but the Department and Work and Pensions later discovered that in 2004 her partner had given her address to his new employer.
Other investigations were made with banks and employers and surveillance was kept outside the house.
He said she had been overpaid £52,397 in income support and £24,422 in housing and council tax benefit.
Mr Seghin Kong, defending, said: "This is a source of heart breaking shame. There is no evidence of a lavish life style, and she really just buried her head in the sand." Poor dear. He said she was repaying the benefit at £74 a month.
Judge Barbara Mensah told Brown; "The courts take these offences seriously because the victim is the public purse and the rest of the community.
"Custody is the normal starting point as a warning to anyone else who is thinking of committing this type of offence. The public should not think that by not sending you to prison means the courts are going soft, because they most certainly are not.
"The only reason I am not sending you to prison is your personal circumstances and your very young family who would suffer most. It is difficult to see how this vast sum of money is every going to be repaid."
16 Mar 2011
Community service for £24k benefit fraud
Jayne Elizabeth Aspinall admitted fraudulently obtaining a total of £24,821 in council tax benefit, income support and housing benefit when she appeared at Lancaster Crown Court.
A joint investigation between the DWP and South Lakeland District Council revealed the 40-year-old, from Little Urswick, had fraudulently received £13,927.79 in income support, £8,227.56 in housing benefit and £2,666.35 in council tax benefit.
She was given an 18-month community order and ordered to do 150 hours’ community service and pay £100 costs. She will also have to repay all the money she stole from the taxpayer.
A joint investigation between the DWP and South Lakeland District Council revealed the 40-year-old, from Little Urswick, had fraudulently received £13,927.79 in income support, £8,227.56 in housing benefit and £2,666.35 in council tax benefit.
She was given an 18-month community order and ordered to do 150 hours’ community service and pay £100 costs. She will also have to repay all the money she stole from the taxpayer.
15 Mar 2011
Tip-off leads to conviction
A Redditch woman has been sentenced to a 12-month Community Order with an unpaid work requirement of 80 hours, for committing benefit fraud.
Kareen Cross was found guilty of falsely claiming Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit totalling £8,410 between April 2008 and May 2009.
Ms Cross, who pleaded not guilty to the offences, was investigated by the DWP and Redditch Borough Council after an allegation that she had failed to declare she was living with her partner was made on the National Benefit Fraud Hotline.
After hearing evidence from the DWP and Council Officers and then hearing from Ms Cross, the Defence decided not to call two further witnesses.
Magistrates found that there were discrepancies in the information Ms Cross had given and found her guilty of failing to declare a change in her circumstances.
She was ordered to pay £5,200 towards the overpaid benefits with the rest of the overpayment being recovered by the DWP and the Council. She was told that this debt must be prioritised as she could go to prison for non-payment.
Kareen Cross was found guilty of falsely claiming Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit totalling £8,410 between April 2008 and May 2009.
Ms Cross, who pleaded not guilty to the offences, was investigated by the DWP and Redditch Borough Council after an allegation that she had failed to declare she was living with her partner was made on the National Benefit Fraud Hotline.
After hearing evidence from the DWP and Council Officers and then hearing from Ms Cross, the Defence decided not to call two further witnesses.
Magistrates found that there were discrepancies in the information Ms Cross had given and found her guilty of failing to declare a change in her circumstances.
She was ordered to pay £5,200 towards the overpaid benefits with the rest of the overpayment being recovered by the DWP and the Council. She was told that this debt must be prioritised as she could go to prison for non-payment.
Benefit fraud in child trafficking in Scotland
At least 80 children have been trafficked to Scotland to face sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse including forced labour, benefit fraud and domestic servitude, a report published on Monday says.
The findings conclude that these cases are the tip of an iceberg, with many more child victims who have been sold, stolen and transported thousands of miles remaining unidentified.
The report – Scotland: a safe place for child traffickers? – criticises police for failing to secure a single conviction for trafficking, and the authorities for their poor response to young victims' needs.
In November, it emerged that a young Nigerian girl had been trafficked to Scotland, held prisoner and gang-raped. Her case was just one of several documented by the Scottish Refugee Council.
Some of the children identified have been forced to work in cannabis factories and private homes and pose as dependents for benefit scams. They came from a number of countries including China, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Vietnam. The youngest was 14 years old.
Child trafficking has long been considered an issue of border control, the study said, leading to those who have been trafficked being regarded as part of a problem, rather than as victims.
Scotland's commissioner for children and young people, Tam Baillie, and the Centre for Rural Childhood at Perth College University of the Highlands and Islands produced the report, and made a number of urgent recommendations.
They called on the UK government to review the national referral mechanism to strengthen co-operation between government agencies, and to appoint an independent human trafficking rapporteur accountable to the UK parliament. The authors recommended the Scottish government should ensure adequate resources are available to tackle the problem and act as a lead for local authorities to ensure that nationally agreed procedures are followed consistently at a local level.
Baillie said: "When children are raped or exploited as slaves in households or businesses in Scotland it becomes our national scandal. When we fail to notice, fail to pick up the signs and fail to act on children's trauma, it demands action. I hope this report, the first of its kind in Scotland, will take the issue out into the open and result in action and change for child victims of trafficking."
Professor Rebecca Wallace, director of the centre for rural childhood at Perth College UHI, said the report's findings address the previous lack of an evidence base regarding child trafficking in Scotland. She added the study was an opportunity to "harness the very evident willingness of professionals encountered during the research to improve the identification and treatment of children trafficked into and within Scotland".
The findings conclude that these cases are the tip of an iceberg, with many more child victims who have been sold, stolen and transported thousands of miles remaining unidentified.
The report – Scotland: a safe place for child traffickers? – criticises police for failing to secure a single conviction for trafficking, and the authorities for their poor response to young victims' needs.
In November, it emerged that a young Nigerian girl had been trafficked to Scotland, held prisoner and gang-raped. Her case was just one of several documented by the Scottish Refugee Council.
Some of the children identified have been forced to work in cannabis factories and private homes and pose as dependents for benefit scams. They came from a number of countries including China, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Vietnam. The youngest was 14 years old.
Child trafficking has long been considered an issue of border control, the study said, leading to those who have been trafficked being regarded as part of a problem, rather than as victims.
Scotland's commissioner for children and young people, Tam Baillie, and the Centre for Rural Childhood at Perth College University of the Highlands and Islands produced the report, and made a number of urgent recommendations.
They called on the UK government to review the national referral mechanism to strengthen co-operation between government agencies, and to appoint an independent human trafficking rapporteur accountable to the UK parliament. The authors recommended the Scottish government should ensure adequate resources are available to tackle the problem and act as a lead for local authorities to ensure that nationally agreed procedures are followed consistently at a local level.
Baillie said: "When children are raped or exploited as slaves in households or businesses in Scotland it becomes our national scandal. When we fail to notice, fail to pick up the signs and fail to act on children's trauma, it demands action. I hope this report, the first of its kind in Scotland, will take the issue out into the open and result in action and change for child victims of trafficking."
Professor Rebecca Wallace, director of the centre for rural childhood at Perth College UHI, said the report's findings address the previous lack of an evidence base regarding child trafficking in Scotland. She added the study was an opportunity to "harness the very evident willingness of professionals encountered during the research to improve the identification and treatment of children trafficked into and within Scotland".
14 Mar 2011
Slightly more pressure on work-shy claimants
Work-shy benefit claimants will be forced to do compulsory work in exchange for welfare under radical rules imposed in Parliament today, reports The Mail.
The unemployed could be instructed to do ‘Mandatory Work Activity’ under a controversial new programme outlined by Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling.
Candidates will only be referred for a compulsory work placement if a Jobcentre Plus adviser believes they are deliberately avoiding trying to get a job or would benefit from getting into the ‘habits and routines’ of getting up every morning.
The Department for Work and Pensions said every work placement would give jobseekers the chance to acquire ‘fundamental work-related disciplines’ and be of benefit to local communities.
It is thought that they will have to pick up litter, mend fences or help repaint care homes.
Jobseekers would have to spend up to 30 hours a week, for a month, on their work placement and would still have to look for work in between.
They will have to do up to four stints of work to continue getting their benefit.
If they fail to turn up or complete the work, then they could be stripped of their benefit for at least three months.
The scheme will be aimed particularly at those who refuse to help themselves in seeking work.
Almost five million people are stuck on out of work benefits in the UK, with 1.4 million getting hand-outs for nine out of the last ten years.
Britain now has one of the highest rates of unemployed households in Europe, with 1.9 million children living in homes where no one works.
Minister for Employment Chris Grayling said: ‘I’ve been really worried by some of the job search interviews I’ve sat through where people are clearly losing their focus and just aren’t getting any closer to a job.
‘This new approach is designed to give people that extra push to make sure they are really keeping active and focused on what it takes to get into work.’
Nearly one million youngsters are also unemployed and not taking part in further education or training.
Youths aged 18 to 21 will have the chance to take up two months of paid work experience without losing their benefit under a separate scheme.
The unemployed could be instructed to do ‘Mandatory Work Activity’ under a controversial new programme outlined by Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling.
Candidates will only be referred for a compulsory work placement if a Jobcentre Plus adviser believes they are deliberately avoiding trying to get a job or would benefit from getting into the ‘habits and routines’ of getting up every morning.
The Department for Work and Pensions said every work placement would give jobseekers the chance to acquire ‘fundamental work-related disciplines’ and be of benefit to local communities.
It is thought that they will have to pick up litter, mend fences or help repaint care homes.
Jobseekers would have to spend up to 30 hours a week, for a month, on their work placement and would still have to look for work in between.
They will have to do up to four stints of work to continue getting their benefit.
If they fail to turn up or complete the work, then they could be stripped of their benefit for at least three months.
The scheme will be aimed particularly at those who refuse to help themselves in seeking work.
Almost five million people are stuck on out of work benefits in the UK, with 1.4 million getting hand-outs for nine out of the last ten years.
Britain now has one of the highest rates of unemployed households in Europe, with 1.9 million children living in homes where no one works.
Minister for Employment Chris Grayling said: ‘I’ve been really worried by some of the job search interviews I’ve sat through where people are clearly losing their focus and just aren’t getting any closer to a job.
‘This new approach is designed to give people that extra push to make sure they are really keeping active and focused on what it takes to get into work.’
Nearly one million youngsters are also unemployed and not taking part in further education or training.
Youths aged 18 to 21 will have the chance to take up two months of paid work experience without losing their benefit under a separate scheme.
Light sentence for £33k benefits thief
Click here for a video which shows this benefit cheat is "swinging the lead", as the Birmingham Mail puts it.
David Ray claimed nearly £34,000 for a disability which he said prevented him from working since June 1995.
Yet the 55 year-old, from Coleshill, was fit enough to play golf twice a week at Walmley Golf Club.
Ray told the Department of Work and Pensions that he was almost unable to walk because of osteoporosis and a trapped nerve.
In addition, prosecutor Tom Schofield told Warwick Crown Court, that Ray claimed he needed assistance to get out of bed and for dressing, bathing and cutting up his food.
Yet he had been a member of Walmley Golf club since 1997 and had been playing twice a week.
DWP officers recorded him collecting his clubs from his car, walking briskly to the fairway and warming up by swinging his club before wheeling his golf trolley around the course.
Ray pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to cheating the public revenue by falsely claiming disability living allowances totalling £33,850.
He was sentenced to four months in jail, suspended for 12 months, with a curfew and has been electronically tagged.
Ray told the court that some days his disability was better than others and said: “I accept that my condition improved so as to allow me to play golf on a regular basis.
“I accept I had a duty to inform the DWP, but failed to do so, and that I was economical with the truth.”
Ben Gow, defending, said: “His condition is genuine, and it’s getting worse.
“He has not been able to play golf for some significant time now, and was planning to give up around that time.”
He said Ray, who takes 24 pills a day, had received ‘a significant pay-out’ after a severe accident, as a result of which he has not been able to work, and has repaid £12,000.
Judge Michael Cullum told Ray: “I accept that the fraud you perpetrated is not one which was fraudulent from the beginning.
“It was not envisaged when you first made your claim that you would be able to play on an 18-hole golf course.”
David Ray claimed nearly £34,000 for a disability which he said prevented him from working since June 1995.
Yet the 55 year-old, from Coleshill, was fit enough to play golf twice a week at Walmley Golf Club.
Ray told the Department of Work and Pensions that he was almost unable to walk because of osteoporosis and a trapped nerve.
In addition, prosecutor Tom Schofield told Warwick Crown Court, that Ray claimed he needed assistance to get out of bed and for dressing, bathing and cutting up his food.
Yet he had been a member of Walmley Golf club since 1997 and had been playing twice a week.
DWP officers recorded him collecting his clubs from his car, walking briskly to the fairway and warming up by swinging his club before wheeling his golf trolley around the course.
Ray pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to cheating the public revenue by falsely claiming disability living allowances totalling £33,850.
He was sentenced to four months in jail, suspended for 12 months, with a curfew and has been electronically tagged.
Ray told the court that some days his disability was better than others and said: “I accept that my condition improved so as to allow me to play golf on a regular basis.
“I accept I had a duty to inform the DWP, but failed to do so, and that I was economical with the truth.”
Ben Gow, defending, said: “His condition is genuine, and it’s getting worse.
“He has not been able to play golf for some significant time now, and was planning to give up around that time.”
He said Ray, who takes 24 pills a day, had received ‘a significant pay-out’ after a severe accident, as a result of which he has not been able to work, and has repaid £12,000.
Judge Michael Cullum told Ray: “I accept that the fraud you perpetrated is not one which was fraudulent from the beginning.
“It was not envisaged when you first made your claim that you would be able to play on an 18-hole golf course.”
13 Mar 2011
Supply teacher sentenced for benefit fraud
A supply teacher from Manchester has been sentenced to 3 months in prison, suspended for two years, after admitting a £20,000 benefit fraud.
42-year old Shaheen Khanum, from Longsight was sentenced after pleading guilty, at an earlier hearing, to fraudulently obtaining housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support amounting to £20,607.
Khanum had failed to declare that she periodically worked as a supply teacher and as a result was overpaid benefits from Manchester City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions between September 2003 and March 2008.
The fraud was uncovered by officers from Manchester City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions as part of an exercise using intelligence gathered by the DWP Hidden Economy Team.
42-year old Shaheen Khanum, from Longsight was sentenced after pleading guilty, at an earlier hearing, to fraudulently obtaining housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support amounting to £20,607.
Khanum had failed to declare that she periodically worked as a supply teacher and as a result was overpaid benefits from Manchester City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions between September 2003 and March 2008.
The fraud was uncovered by officers from Manchester City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions as part of an exercise using intelligence gathered by the DWP Hidden Economy Team.
12 Mar 2011
Judo coach claimed disabled benefit
A top judo coach who won a bronze medal in the Commonwealth games has been jailed for three months for claiming over £24,000 in Disability Living Allowance.
Belfast Crown Court Judge Stephen Fowler QC told 47-year-old Martin Sloane he had "no option" but to jail him "given the blatant and persistent nature of this offence" and that Sloane's "lack of remorse reinforces this view".
Sloane, Dunmurry, outside Belfast - whose initial DLA claims were legitimate - admitted failing to inform authorities about changes in his circumstances, particularly his health.
At an earlier hearing prosecuting lawyer David Cartmill said that Sloane was receiving the highest level of the benefits when he took the bronze in the over 40s section of the 2006 Commonwealth judo championships.
Sloane, who once claimed it took him ten minutes to walk six metres, was eventually caught by benefits investigators who filmed him at judo coaching sessions.
He had first claimed DLA for a severe arthritic condition in April 1992 but his condition improved after he was treated with new drugs and began stretching exercises as part of his judo training.
Sloan later started to coach children and he received weekly payments, but decided not to tell the authorities who launched an investigation in 2008.
Over the years the court heard that the judo champ had been paid over £67,000 in DLA but the authorities said they could only prove that £24,300 of that was claimed fraudulently.
Defence lawyer Stewarts Hindley had said Sloane didn't live a life of luxury with flashy cars or jacuzzis, but looked after his disabled wheelchair bound wife, and was reluctant to be lumped in with thieves, robbers and fraudsters.
However, Judge Fowler said that Sloane "unfortunately deliberately chose" not to let the authorities know when his "medical and health condition dramatically improved" and that his crime "was easy to commit but difficult to detect".
htp Dave
Belfast Crown Court Judge Stephen Fowler QC told 47-year-old Martin Sloane he had "no option" but to jail him "given the blatant and persistent nature of this offence" and that Sloane's "lack of remorse reinforces this view".
Sloane, Dunmurry, outside Belfast - whose initial DLA claims were legitimate - admitted failing to inform authorities about changes in his circumstances, particularly his health.
At an earlier hearing prosecuting lawyer David Cartmill said that Sloane was receiving the highest level of the benefits when he took the bronze in the over 40s section of the 2006 Commonwealth judo championships.
Sloane, who once claimed it took him ten minutes to walk six metres, was eventually caught by benefits investigators who filmed him at judo coaching sessions.
He had first claimed DLA for a severe arthritic condition in April 1992 but his condition improved after he was treated with new drugs and began stretching exercises as part of his judo training.
Sloan later started to coach children and he received weekly payments, but decided not to tell the authorities who launched an investigation in 2008.
Over the years the court heard that the judo champ had been paid over £67,000 in DLA but the authorities said they could only prove that £24,300 of that was claimed fraudulently.
Defence lawyer Stewarts Hindley had said Sloane didn't live a life of luxury with flashy cars or jacuzzis, but looked after his disabled wheelchair bound wife, and was reluctant to be lumped in with thieves, robbers and fraudsters.
However, Judge Fowler said that Sloane "unfortunately deliberately chose" not to let the authorities know when his "medical and health condition dramatically improved" and that his crime "was easy to commit but difficult to detect".
htp Dave
11 Mar 2011
Light sentence for planned £33k benefit fraud
A benefit fraudster who changed her name before scamming the council out of £33,000 has avoided jail for the crime.
Anuolowapo Oloyede-Samuel claimed housing benefit to live in a two-bedroom flat in South Norwood, but a council investigation showed she had bought the house under a different name in 2005.
Investigators also discovered she was claiming benefits for a second home in Thurrock, Essex.
Croydon Crown Court heard Oloyede-Samuel had changed her surname from Rojugbokan by deed poll after buying the home in Phoenix Court under her former identity.
The fraudster, who had since moved to Exeter, was interviewed by both councils and said a friend had purchased the property and applied for the mortgage in her name.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges at her initial trial in August 2010, but the hearing collapsed when her counsel withdrew from the case.
A second trial was set for December 2010, but heavy snow meant jurors were unable to reach court.
Oloyede-Samuel changed her plea to guilty at the start of her third trial on January 24 this year.
She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. She was also told arrangements would be made to recover the money.
Recorder Ian Peddie said: “Benefit fraud is common nowadays and it costs the country millions of pounds a year.
"It is undoubtedly that you were aware of the fraud and had lied many times in this matter."
htp Dave
Anuolowapo Oloyede-Samuel claimed housing benefit to live in a two-bedroom flat in South Norwood, but a council investigation showed she had bought the house under a different name in 2005.
Investigators also discovered she was claiming benefits for a second home in Thurrock, Essex.
Croydon Crown Court heard Oloyede-Samuel had changed her surname from Rojugbokan by deed poll after buying the home in Phoenix Court under her former identity.
The fraudster, who had since moved to Exeter, was interviewed by both councils and said a friend had purchased the property and applied for the mortgage in her name.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges at her initial trial in August 2010, but the hearing collapsed when her counsel withdrew from the case.
A second trial was set for December 2010, but heavy snow meant jurors were unable to reach court.
Oloyede-Samuel changed her plea to guilty at the start of her third trial on January 24 this year.
She was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. She was also told arrangements would be made to recover the money.
Recorder Ian Peddie said: “Benefit fraud is common nowadays and it costs the country millions of pounds a year.
"It is undoubtedly that you were aware of the fraud and had lied many times in this matter."
htp Dave
Light sentence for £40k benefit thief
A benefit cheat who defrauded more than £40,000 in benefits has been ordered to pay back the money that she stole after a joint prosecution by Lewisham Council and the DWP.
Yvonne Martin, from New Cross, began claiming Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefits in 2007, claiming that she had only £200 in her savings account.
A tip-off from a member of the public said that Miss Martin, 46, had undeclared money in several different accounts and that she had also received a compensation payout of £100,000 in 2006. So she started these claims after she got her compensation payment.
Investigators from Lewisham Council and the DWP began to look at Miss Martin’s finances and discovered that she had £98,000 in undeclared capital in her name in several different accounts. Under interview Miss Martin told investigators that she was holding the cash for other people (as you do) and it was not hers – but she was not able to provide any evidence to support her claims.
Ms Martin received £4,972 in Income Support from the DWP, and £38,000 in housing and council tax benefits from Lewisham Council.
On 15 December Miss Martin pleaded guilty to three counts of obtaining benefits fraudulently. On 7 February at Woolwich Crown Court Miss Martin was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment for each offence, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. In sentencing, the judge took into account that Miss Martin had children, but warned her that if she breached any of the conditions of her sentence she would go to prison.
As well as the sentence, Miss Martin will have to pay back all the money that she claimed fraudulently. So why have we not got our money back yet?
Yvonne Martin, from New Cross, began claiming Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefits in 2007, claiming that she had only £200 in her savings account.
A tip-off from a member of the public said that Miss Martin, 46, had undeclared money in several different accounts and that she had also received a compensation payout of £100,000 in 2006. So she started these claims after she got her compensation payment.
Investigators from Lewisham Council and the DWP began to look at Miss Martin’s finances and discovered that she had £98,000 in undeclared capital in her name in several different accounts. Under interview Miss Martin told investigators that she was holding the cash for other people (as you do) and it was not hers – but she was not able to provide any evidence to support her claims.
Ms Martin received £4,972 in Income Support from the DWP, and £38,000 in housing and council tax benefits from Lewisham Council.
On 15 December Miss Martin pleaded guilty to three counts of obtaining benefits fraudulently. On 7 February at Woolwich Crown Court Miss Martin was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment for each offence, suspended for two years, and ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work. In sentencing, the judge took into account that Miss Martin had children, but warned her that if she breached any of the conditions of her sentence she would go to prison.
As well as the sentence, Miss Martin will have to pay back all the money that she claimed fraudulently. So why have we not got our money back yet?
- 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.
10 Mar 2011
Big confiscation order for benefit thief
A BENEFIT cheat who falsely claimed £14,000 is being forced to pay back £400,000.
Ibiola Alli-Balogun, 43, appealed against the confiscation order, but a judge ruled it was “perfectly proper”.
In 2008, Alli-Balogun admitted falsely claiming £725-a-month housing benefit for a home in Sydenham, South London.
She had pretended to be a single mum and not disclosed her husband’s income.
At the time, a judge said houses she owned in South East London – worth £370,000 – along with £3,000 savings, were benefits of crime and stood to be confiscated.
Alli-Balogun, of Kidbrooke, South East London, was told to hand over the amount or go to prison for four years.
Dismissing her appeal against the sum, Judge Sir Hugh Bennett, at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, said she was deemed to have been living “a criminal lifestyle”.
He said: “It may well be perfectly proper for a confiscation order to be massively greater than the gain from the offence”.
htp Dave
Ibiola Alli-Balogun, 43, appealed against the confiscation order, but a judge ruled it was “perfectly proper”.
In 2008, Alli-Balogun admitted falsely claiming £725-a-month housing benefit for a home in Sydenham, South London.
She had pretended to be a single mum and not disclosed her husband’s income.
At the time, a judge said houses she owned in South East London – worth £370,000 – along with £3,000 savings, were benefits of crime and stood to be confiscated.
Alli-Balogun, of Kidbrooke, South East London, was told to hand over the amount or go to prison for four years.
Dismissing her appeal against the sum, Judge Sir Hugh Bennett, at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, said she was deemed to have been living “a criminal lifestyle”.
He said: “It may well be perfectly proper for a confiscation order to be massively greater than the gain from the offence”.
htp Dave
9 Mar 2011
Jail for Midlands car dealers who claimed benefits
A freedy Sedgley woman who fiddled nearly £75k in benefits while maintaining she was running a successful car sales business from her home has been jailed for 21 months.
Emma Crumpton claimed she received death threats from gypsies, who said she would "end up in a ditch" if she stopped selling vehicles from the house in Tipton Road - a story slammed as lies by a crown court judge.
The court heard how the 35 year-old was operating two firms from her home with 58 year-old David Evans, who lived at the same address, and there was also a repair workshop on the premises.
Evans, who falsely claimed benefits totalling £47,991 during the same 11 year period, was jailed for a year at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Judge Michael Challinor told them both it was a "cynical, sophisticated, deliberate, consistent and well concealed" scam that had gone on for some considerable time.
Crumpton had admitted eight charges of benefit fraud involving a total of £74,995 while Evans pleaded guilty to one similar charge.
Jailing the pair the judge said they had committed a serious fraud on the public purse and added: "This was the result of greed - not for any other reason."
Crumpton and Evans set up Castle Motors and Ex-Lease Cars in 1997 - with vehicles regularly sold by the pair.
In evidence to an earlier court hearing Crumpton said she had first advertised and sold cars for members of the travelling fraternity as a favour.
But she said things because much more "unpleasant" and she was forced to keep the firms going after being threatened with violence.
The judge though ruled at that hearing that Crumpton had fabricated the story to help cover up her benefit fraud and said she was probably known to gypsies "not as a victim but a central figure in a car trading business."
Emma Crumpton claimed she received death threats from gypsies, who said she would "end up in a ditch" if she stopped selling vehicles from the house in Tipton Road - a story slammed as lies by a crown court judge.
The court heard how the 35 year-old was operating two firms from her home with 58 year-old David Evans, who lived at the same address, and there was also a repair workshop on the premises.
Evans, who falsely claimed benefits totalling £47,991 during the same 11 year period, was jailed for a year at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Judge Michael Challinor told them both it was a "cynical, sophisticated, deliberate, consistent and well concealed" scam that had gone on for some considerable time.
Crumpton had admitted eight charges of benefit fraud involving a total of £74,995 while Evans pleaded guilty to one similar charge.
Jailing the pair the judge said they had committed a serious fraud on the public purse and added: "This was the result of greed - not for any other reason."
Crumpton and Evans set up Castle Motors and Ex-Lease Cars in 1997 - with vehicles regularly sold by the pair.
In evidence to an earlier court hearing Crumpton said she had first advertised and sold cars for members of the travelling fraternity as a favour.
But she said things because much more "unpleasant" and she was forced to keep the firms going after being threatened with violence.
The judge though ruled at that hearing that Crumpton had fabricated the story to help cover up her benefit fraud and said she was probably known to gypsies "not as a victim but a central figure in a car trading business."
Benefit thieves roundup
A mother who claimed £12,000 in housing and council tax benefits over four years while concealing £80,000 in a joint bank account has been ordered to pay the money back and do 140 hours of community service.
In another case, Rebecca Feeney from Aylesbury was overpaid £18,268 in income support and £3,723 in council tax benefit. She was taken to court after an anonymous tip that she had over £100,000 of assets. On investigation, it was found that she had received an inheritance from her grandmother that she did not declare when claiming income support and council tax benefit. She was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and 200 hours unpaid work.
And a worker at a Leyland taxi firm has been fined after admitting cheating the system out of more than £3,000 during a 10-month benefit fraud. Catherine Wilding, 40, admitted two charges of claiming housing benefit and council tax benefit whilst working as a receptionist for Leyland Taxis between November 2007 and September 2008. She was fined £440 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15 plus costs of £200. She will also have to repay the money she fraudulently claimed.
In another case, Rebecca Feeney from Aylesbury was overpaid £18,268 in income support and £3,723 in council tax benefit. She was taken to court after an anonymous tip that she had over £100,000 of assets. On investigation, it was found that she had received an inheritance from her grandmother that she did not declare when claiming income support and council tax benefit. She was sentenced to eight weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and 200 hours unpaid work.
And a worker at a Leyland taxi firm has been fined after admitting cheating the system out of more than £3,000 during a 10-month benefit fraud. Catherine Wilding, 40, admitted two charges of claiming housing benefit and council tax benefit whilst working as a receptionist for Leyland Taxis between November 2007 and September 2008. She was fined £440 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15 plus costs of £200. She will also have to repay the money she fraudulently claimed.
- 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.
8 Mar 2011
Another housing benefit fraudster jailed
A 'persistent liar' has been jailed for 15 months after admitting five charges of benefit fraud.
Amir Atoofi appeared at Isleworth Crown Court, where he admitted five counts of making dishonest claims for housing benefit.
He was also ordered to pay £14,228 costs and to repay the outstanding housing benefit overpayment of £9,836.
Judge Oliver described Atoofi as 'a persistent liar who knowingly and deliberately' entered into the fraud, which he called a clever scheme.
The defendant even set up a false trail leading investigators to a fake landlord.
Atoofi was charged with making five false representations with a view to obtaining housing benefit between June 2007 and July 2007, while failing to declare he held bank accounts and properties in Bristol and Earls Court. (£9,800 in one month?)
He was sentenced to 15 months on each count, to run concurrently.
After the case, Councillor Timothy Coleridge, cabinet member for housing, said: "This was a very calculated attempt by Amir Atoofi to claim benefits to which he was not entitled.
"I am very pleased that the court has taken such a dim view of his behaviour.
"We will continue to be vigilant and hope this sends a message out to anyone who may be tempted to make false claims."
Amir Atoofi appeared at Isleworth Crown Court, where he admitted five counts of making dishonest claims for housing benefit.
He was also ordered to pay £14,228 costs and to repay the outstanding housing benefit overpayment of £9,836.
Judge Oliver described Atoofi as 'a persistent liar who knowingly and deliberately' entered into the fraud, which he called a clever scheme.
The defendant even set up a false trail leading investigators to a fake landlord.
Atoofi was charged with making five false representations with a view to obtaining housing benefit between June 2007 and July 2007, while failing to declare he held bank accounts and properties in Bristol and Earls Court. (£9,800 in one month?)
He was sentenced to 15 months on each count, to run concurrently.
After the case, Councillor Timothy Coleridge, cabinet member for housing, said: "This was a very calculated attempt by Amir Atoofi to claim benefits to which he was not entitled.
"I am very pleased that the court has taken such a dim view of his behaviour.
"We will continue to be vigilant and hope this sends a message out to anyone who may be tempted to make false claims."
7 Mar 2011
Housing benefit fraudster jailed
A benefit cheat who owned four cars has been jailed for six months following an investigation by Havering Council.
Michael Dowman, aged 35, of Jutsums Lane, Romford, received the sentence at Basildon Crown Court.
He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to defrauding Havering Council of £38,974.66 in Housing Benefit over a period of almost seven years (7/7/03 to 19/4/10).
Whilst in receipt of housing benefit for his rent, Mr Dowman had sub-let his flat for £550 per month and was living with his girlfriend and their baby daughter.
A Havering Council investigation uncovered several undeclared bank accounts. A credit check revealed he had an active bank account and had received loans of more than £100,000 since March 2003 with various companies.
Income in another account between 8 June 2003 and 8 May 2008 alone was £59,960.
The Council investigation also revealed that Mr Dowman had bought several high value cars while receiving benefits. These included a £24,000 BMW convertible, a £21,000 Renault Megane Sport, a £17,000 Land Rover and a Ford Focus.
He also bought jewellery, booked holidays, shopped in Selfridges of London, hired out function venues and had a gym membership.
Mr Dowman admitted offences under the Social Security Act 1992 – that he dishonestly failed to notify the Council that he was receiving income/capital which was paid into undeclared bank accounts.
At sentencing on Thursday 24 February Recorder Knott said that due to the size of the overpayment this case had obviously crossed the custody threshold and sent Mr Dowman to prison.
Havering Councillor Roger Ramsey, Cabinet Member for Value, said: "We are delighted that the court has handed down a jail sentence. People who commit benefit fraud are total scroungers.
"While hard-working families were struggling to make ends meet, he was driving around in £20,000 cars bought with money intended for those who have genuinely fallen on hard times. It's vital we continue to catch these criminals who are stealing hardworking taxpayers' money."
Michael Dowman, aged 35, of Jutsums Lane, Romford, received the sentence at Basildon Crown Court.
He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to defrauding Havering Council of £38,974.66 in Housing Benefit over a period of almost seven years (7/7/03 to 19/4/10).
Whilst in receipt of housing benefit for his rent, Mr Dowman had sub-let his flat for £550 per month and was living with his girlfriend and their baby daughter.
A Havering Council investigation uncovered several undeclared bank accounts. A credit check revealed he had an active bank account and had received loans of more than £100,000 since March 2003 with various companies.
Income in another account between 8 June 2003 and 8 May 2008 alone was £59,960.
The Council investigation also revealed that Mr Dowman had bought several high value cars while receiving benefits. These included a £24,000 BMW convertible, a £21,000 Renault Megane Sport, a £17,000 Land Rover and a Ford Focus.
He also bought jewellery, booked holidays, shopped in Selfridges of London, hired out function venues and had a gym membership.
Mr Dowman admitted offences under the Social Security Act 1992 – that he dishonestly failed to notify the Council that he was receiving income/capital which was paid into undeclared bank accounts.
At sentencing on Thursday 24 February Recorder Knott said that due to the size of the overpayment this case had obviously crossed the custody threshold and sent Mr Dowman to prison.
Havering Councillor Roger Ramsey, Cabinet Member for Value, said: "We are delighted that the court has handed down a jail sentence. People who commit benefit fraud are total scroungers.
"While hard-working families were struggling to make ends meet, he was driving around in £20,000 cars bought with money intended for those who have genuinely fallen on hard times. It's vital we continue to catch these criminals who are stealing hardworking taxpayers' money."
Tip of the benefit fraud iceberg in Birmingham
It could have been any other day at court, except that the stream of people appearing in the dock were all accused of one thing: benefit fraud.
Twenty-three people alleged to have wrongly claimed a quarter of a million pounds between them appeared in one court in a single day.
The astonishing caseload provides a snapshot of benefits Britain.
They included the wife of a fortune teller and an ex-solicitor who claimed thousands in income support following the collapse of her business but failed to declare that she had two properties she rented out.
There was also a mother of eight who claimed £16,000 after telling the authorities she was a single mother, when in reality she was living with her partner. The false claims ranged from a few thousand pounds to £60,000.
The huge number of people dealt with at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court underlines the sheer scale of the fraud and the ease with which people can apparently abuse the system. Details here.
Some hearings were adjourned and some people pleaded not guilty to argue their cases at future trials.
But many of those who came before this court on Thursday of last week and pleaded guilty walked away with paltry fines, costs and unpaid community work as punishment.
Karen Lees, 45, from Kings Heath, Birmingham, falsely claimed £2,500 in benefits after failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions of her employment as a cleaner at a social club.
She was ordered to pay only £25 costs and complete 50 hours of unpaid community work. Yesterday, the DWP said Birmingham, Britain’s second biggest city, had one of the highest rates of benefits fraud in the country.
But it warned that such scenes were being repeated in courts in every city and that abuse of the welfare system was rife.
Some women were convicted of telling the authorities that they were single mothers in order to claim more in benefits when in reality their partners or husbands lived with them.
Emma Boon, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It’s shocking that the DWP is now having to block-book time in court to deal with scroungers. These benefits fraudsters are costing honest taxpayers twice: once when they make false claims and again when they are pursued through the courts and punished.
‘We need tough reforms to the welfare system. It’s too easy for cheats and the handouts are too generous. Those making false claims should be caught earlier to try to prevent the added cost of legal proceedings.’
She added: ‘Mothers pretending to be single when they live with a partner is a huge problem and is often difficult to detect.
‘It is a difficult area to address without punishing the child, but any reforms must toughen up this benefits soft spot. At the moment too many regard it as an easy target.’
All the defendants live in Birmingham. The fraudsters will all have to pay back the sums they wrongly claimed over a set period. But repayment agreements with the DWP have not yet been settled.
Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud said: ‘The large number heard in Birmingham just goes to show the mess the benefits system is in. That’s why we’re undertaking the biggest overhaul of the welfare state this country has ever seen. ’
htp Dave
Twenty-three people alleged to have wrongly claimed a quarter of a million pounds between them appeared in one court in a single day.
The astonishing caseload provides a snapshot of benefits Britain.
They included the wife of a fortune teller and an ex-solicitor who claimed thousands in income support following the collapse of her business but failed to declare that she had two properties she rented out.
There was also a mother of eight who claimed £16,000 after telling the authorities she was a single mother, when in reality she was living with her partner. The false claims ranged from a few thousand pounds to £60,000.
The huge number of people dealt with at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court underlines the sheer scale of the fraud and the ease with which people can apparently abuse the system. Details here.
Some hearings were adjourned and some people pleaded not guilty to argue their cases at future trials.
But many of those who came before this court on Thursday of last week and pleaded guilty walked away with paltry fines, costs and unpaid community work as punishment.
Karen Lees, 45, from Kings Heath, Birmingham, falsely claimed £2,500 in benefits after failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions of her employment as a cleaner at a social club.
She was ordered to pay only £25 costs and complete 50 hours of unpaid community work. Yesterday, the DWP said Birmingham, Britain’s second biggest city, had one of the highest rates of benefits fraud in the country.
But it warned that such scenes were being repeated in courts in every city and that abuse of the welfare system was rife.
Some women were convicted of telling the authorities that they were single mothers in order to claim more in benefits when in reality their partners or husbands lived with them.
Emma Boon, from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘It’s shocking that the DWP is now having to block-book time in court to deal with scroungers. These benefits fraudsters are costing honest taxpayers twice: once when they make false claims and again when they are pursued through the courts and punished.
‘We need tough reforms to the welfare system. It’s too easy for cheats and the handouts are too generous. Those making false claims should be caught earlier to try to prevent the added cost of legal proceedings.’
She added: ‘Mothers pretending to be single when they live with a partner is a huge problem and is often difficult to detect.
‘It is a difficult area to address without punishing the child, but any reforms must toughen up this benefits soft spot. At the moment too many regard it as an easy target.’
All the defendants live in Birmingham. The fraudsters will all have to pay back the sums they wrongly claimed over a set period. But repayment agreements with the DWP have not yet been settled.
Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud said: ‘The large number heard in Birmingham just goes to show the mess the benefits system is in. That’s why we’re undertaking the biggest overhaul of the welfare state this country has ever seen. ’
htp Dave
4 Mar 2011
Cheating mother cheats again
Lisa Watson (background here) - who claimed she had eleven children in her 20's without raising suspicions on the way - has been back in court.
She has now admitted forging a bank statement to pretend she was paying back the cash.
She is already awaiting sentence for inventing children to fraudulently scam the benefit agencies. She had been given a chance to pay back the cash, but last month a sheriff ordered a police investigation into the repayments.
His suspicion came about when Watson's then solicitor, Diane MacFarlane, withdrew from representing her over the authenticity of information provided by her client.
The 28-year-old has now pleaded guilty to a new offence of attempting to pervert justice by uttering as genuine to her lawyer a forged bank statement.
It falsely showed payments she had made between May 9, 2010, and August 9, 2010. She admitted this was done with the intention of misleading the court into accepting she had repaid more than she actually had.
Watson was only 24 when she invented names and birthdays for 11 fake children, ranging from one year old to 13 - including some said to be born just days apart. (Was anyone awake atthe DWP HMRC?) Sheriff David Sutherland has previously warned her that she faced jail if the cash was not repaid.
The case has been put off on numerous occasions to allow Watson to prove she is repaying the cash on a regular basis. It was on this issue that her latest lawyer Diane McFarlane withdrew from representing her.
Watson had told HM Revenue and Customs she had 11 children aged from one to 13 in a bid to fraudulently earn £16,787. Watson carried out the benefits scam while she had only one child.
The court heard she did not claim benefits for her real offspring.
On a previous appearance, Sheriff Sutherland told Watson: "I must say this is one of the worst frauds I have come across in the benefit system.
"It is appalling how one can claim to have this number of children when they don't. It was something you did knowingly. I intend to have this money repaid in full. If the repayments are not maintained then it will be inevitable that a lengthy custodial sentence will be imposed."
Since the offences came to light four years ago she has made irregular payments to HMRC, but the sheriff wants monthly payments to ensure the whole amount is repaid.
Sheriff Sutherland deferred sentence until March 31 for background reports and released Watson, now a mum of two, on bail.
She has now admitted forging a bank statement to pretend she was paying back the cash.
She is already awaiting sentence for inventing children to fraudulently scam the benefit agencies. She had been given a chance to pay back the cash, but last month a sheriff ordered a police investigation into the repayments.
His suspicion came about when Watson's then solicitor, Diane MacFarlane, withdrew from representing her over the authenticity of information provided by her client.
The 28-year-old has now pleaded guilty to a new offence of attempting to pervert justice by uttering as genuine to her lawyer a forged bank statement.
It falsely showed payments she had made between May 9, 2010, and August 9, 2010. She admitted this was done with the intention of misleading the court into accepting she had repaid more than she actually had.
Watson was only 24 when she invented names and birthdays for 11 fake children, ranging from one year old to 13 - including some said to be born just days apart. (Was anyone awake at
The case has been put off on numerous occasions to allow Watson to prove she is repaying the cash on a regular basis. It was on this issue that her latest lawyer Diane McFarlane withdrew from representing her.
Watson had told HM Revenue and Customs she had 11 children aged from one to 13 in a bid to fraudulently earn £16,787. Watson carried out the benefits scam while she had only one child.
The court heard she did not claim benefits for her real offspring.
On a previous appearance, Sheriff Sutherland told Watson: "I must say this is one of the worst frauds I have come across in the benefit system.
"It is appalling how one can claim to have this number of children when they don't. It was something you did knowingly. I intend to have this money repaid in full. If the repayments are not maintained then it will be inevitable that a lengthy custodial sentence will be imposed."
Since the offences came to light four years ago she has made irregular payments to HMRC, but the sheriff wants monthly payments to ensure the whole amount is repaid.
Sheriff Sutherland deferred sentence until March 31 for background reports and released Watson, now a mum of two, on bail.
3 Mar 2011
Still ducking her responsibilities
The mother of Devon teenager Scarlett Keeling, who was killed in India, may have to sell her home to avoid going to prison for benefit fraud.
Fiona MacKeown, 44, of Meddon, Devon admitted falsely claiming £19,000 in income support last April.
She was given an eight-month suspended jail term and ordered to repay the debt.
Earlier, a judge at Exeter Crown Court gave her six months extra to pay after hearing her smallholding may be sold.
The court heard that Ms MacKeown had been due to repay the £14,650 she still owes last week but had failed to make the deadline.
Her barrister, David Sapiecha, said she still hoped to raise a loan using her smallholding in north Devon as security but was likely to be forced to sell it at auction.
He said: "It was hoped money could be repaid out of the proceeds of that land one way or another or by loans based on that land.
"There are problems with selling the land. There are tyres stored on it and there is a planning issue over a barn so her last final option is to sell at auction for less than its value." Whose fault is that?
Judge Graham Cottle has now given Ms MacKeown until August 27 to make the payment.
If she fails to do so she will be jailed for 12 months.
The Department of Work and Pensions was not represented at the hearing and the judge gave them leave to appeal against the extension of the time limit.
Fiona MacKeown's 15-year-old daughter Scarlett was raped and killed on a family holiday to Goa in 2008.
Two men are currently on trial in India accused of killing and assaulting her.
Ms MacKeown told the BBC previously she had been hoping to bury Scarlett in a garden on her land once her body is finally released by the Devon coroner.
htp Dave
Fiona MacKeown, 44, of Meddon, Devon admitted falsely claiming £19,000 in income support last April.
She was given an eight-month suspended jail term and ordered to repay the debt.
Earlier, a judge at Exeter Crown Court gave her six months extra to pay after hearing her smallholding may be sold.
The court heard that Ms MacKeown had been due to repay the £14,650 she still owes last week but had failed to make the deadline.
Her barrister, David Sapiecha, said she still hoped to raise a loan using her smallholding in north Devon as security but was likely to be forced to sell it at auction.
He said: "It was hoped money could be repaid out of the proceeds of that land one way or another or by loans based on that land.
"There are problems with selling the land. There are tyres stored on it and there is a planning issue over a barn so her last final option is to sell at auction for less than its value." Whose fault is that?
Judge Graham Cottle has now given Ms MacKeown until August 27 to make the payment.
If she fails to do so she will be jailed for 12 months.
The Department of Work and Pensions was not represented at the hearing and the judge gave them leave to appeal against the extension of the time limit.
Fiona MacKeown's 15-year-old daughter Scarlett was raped and killed on a family holiday to Goa in 2008.
Two men are currently on trial in India accused of killing and assaulting her.
Ms MacKeown told the BBC previously she had been hoping to bury Scarlett in a garden on her land once her body is finally released by the Devon coroner.
htp Dave
- 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.
2 Mar 2011
Strange sentences for repeat benefit thieves
A benefits cheat who asked to do unpaid community work instead of going to jail told a probation officer: “I don’t give a monkeys — if they send me to prison, it’ll cost the public more.” But Stanley Arnold, from Swadlincote, is now behind bars — sentenced to six weeks by Judge John Maxwell for fiddling £7,000.
His wife, wheelchair-user Elaine, who defrauded the taxpayer out of £20,000, escaped with a suspended 19-week sentence.
Stafford Crown Court heard she was claiming incapacity benefit and disabled living allowance, but managed to get two jobs, one as a care support worker for the elderly and later on as a cleaning supervisor.
Judge Maxwell said: “You can’t do either of those jobs from a wheelchair.” Neil Chawla, prosecuting for the Department of Works and Pensions, told the judge: “Her health improved to facilitate her doing these jobs — she didn’t inform the Department.” Between March 2005 and November 2005 she worked as a care worker.
Between January 2007 and September 2008, she was a cleaning supervisor, said Mr Chawla.
Elaine Arnold, 50, previously of Wyndham Crescent, Winshill, admitted two charges of benefit fraud.
Her 53-year-old husband, of Chapel Street, Church Gresley admitted failing to notify the Department that he was working between January 2004 and January 2008.
Mr Chawla said Stanley Arnold had worked for various couriers and logistics companies, earning money whilst claiming carer’s allowance for his wife to the tune of £7,312.
Judge Maxwell told him: “I don’t conceal from you the fact that in ordinary circumstances, I would make a community order and require you to do unpaid work. But when this was put to you by the probation officer, you flatly refused to consider it and you said you couldn’t care a monkey’s.” The judge told Elaine Arnold she had “extracted from another judge a promise you would not go to prison immediately.
“Your sentence is 19 weeks suspended for two years. You deserve to go to prison and I treat a curfew as imprisonment in your home. You will be electronically tagged and if you breach it the suspended sentence will be invoked, wheelchair or not.”
Tim Pole for Elaine Arnold said: “Whilst there were periods she should have notified that her health had improved, there were periods when the claim was genuine.
She has long standing medical conditions.
She has lost three grandchildren through illness since 2005.” Simon Phillips, for Stanley Arnold, said: “No-one is suggesting he wasn’t actually caring for his wife throughout this period. ”His fear of doing a community order was that he would not be able to earn a living.” Elaine Arnold was also given a fourmonth curfew, meaning she can’t leave her address between 6pm and 6am.
htp Dave
His wife, wheelchair-user Elaine, who defrauded the taxpayer out of £20,000, escaped with a suspended 19-week sentence.
Stafford Crown Court heard she was claiming incapacity benefit and disabled living allowance, but managed to get two jobs, one as a care support worker for the elderly and later on as a cleaning supervisor.
Judge Maxwell said: “You can’t do either of those jobs from a wheelchair.” Neil Chawla, prosecuting for the Department of Works and Pensions, told the judge: “Her health improved to facilitate her doing these jobs — she didn’t inform the Department.” Between March 2005 and November 2005 she worked as a care worker.
Between January 2007 and September 2008, she was a cleaning supervisor, said Mr Chawla.
Elaine Arnold, 50, previously of Wyndham Crescent, Winshill, admitted two charges of benefit fraud.
Her 53-year-old husband, of Chapel Street, Church Gresley admitted failing to notify the Department that he was working between January 2004 and January 2008.
Mr Chawla said Stanley Arnold had worked for various couriers and logistics companies, earning money whilst claiming carer’s allowance for his wife to the tune of £7,312.
Judge Maxwell told him: “I don’t conceal from you the fact that in ordinary circumstances, I would make a community order and require you to do unpaid work. But when this was put to you by the probation officer, you flatly refused to consider it and you said you couldn’t care a monkey’s.” The judge told Elaine Arnold she had “extracted from another judge a promise you would not go to prison immediately.
“Your sentence is 19 weeks suspended for two years. You deserve to go to prison and I treat a curfew as imprisonment in your home. You will be electronically tagged and if you breach it the suspended sentence will be invoked, wheelchair or not.”
The court heard that both had a previous conviction for similar benefits fraud.
Tim Pole for Elaine Arnold said: “Whilst there were periods she should have notified that her health had improved, there were periods when the claim was genuine.
She has long standing medical conditions.
She has lost three grandchildren through illness since 2005.” Simon Phillips, for Stanley Arnold, said: “No-one is suggesting he wasn’t actually caring for his wife throughout this period. ”His fear of doing a community order was that he would not be able to earn a living.” Elaine Arnold was also given a fourmonth curfew, meaning she can’t leave her address between 6pm and 6am.
htp Dave
- 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.
1 Mar 2011
DWP slow to bring benefit thief to trial
A man who claimed almost £70,000 in incapacity and income support benefits while working for a demolition company has been jailed for 10 months.
A court heard Richard Vollans, 52, used the cash to pay off drug dealers who were threatening his son.
During his six-and-a-half year deception Vollans could earn up to £1,500 per week.
Simon Perkins, prosecuting, said Vollans, from Beeston, made genuine claims when he first applied for benefits in 1999.
But he began working for a demolition firm in 2003 until his arrest in 2009.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to inform authorities of a change in circumstances.
James Keeley, for Vollans, said he initially began making his claims as he was unable to work due to arthritis and depression as a result of a family tragedy.
He said his 11-year-old daughter had been knocked down and he blamed himself as he had sent her out on an errand.
Mr Keeley said the deception began after he had run up £6,000 worth of debt and his son had got into trouble with drug dealers.
He said: “This man feared retribution for himself and his family.
“After losing one child, he didn’t want to lose another one.
“The simple matter is that he carried on the dishonesty in order to pay these people.
“He could not go to the police. If he did, these people might carry out their threats.
“He is genuinely ashamed of what he has done. It is absolutely right to say that he was looking forward to the day he was caught.”
Jailing Vollans, the judge said: “It is as blatant a piece of dishonesty as one can come across as far as benefit fraud is concerned.”
He added: “The fact that it was done to pay your son’s drug debt is no mitigation at all. The appropriate way of dealing with that is to go to the police.”
htp Dave
A court heard Richard Vollans, 52, used the cash to pay off drug dealers who were threatening his son.
During his six-and-a-half year deception Vollans could earn up to £1,500 per week.
Simon Perkins, prosecuting, said Vollans, from Beeston, made genuine claims when he first applied for benefits in 1999.
But he began working for a demolition firm in 2003 until his arrest in 2009.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to inform authorities of a change in circumstances.
James Keeley, for Vollans, said he initially began making his claims as he was unable to work due to arthritis and depression as a result of a family tragedy.
He said his 11-year-old daughter had been knocked down and he blamed himself as he had sent her out on an errand.
Mr Keeley said the deception began after he had run up £6,000 worth of debt and his son had got into trouble with drug dealers.
He said: “This man feared retribution for himself and his family.
“After losing one child, he didn’t want to lose another one.
“The simple matter is that he carried on the dishonesty in order to pay these people.
“He could not go to the police. If he did, these people might carry out their threats.
“He is genuinely ashamed of what he has done. It is absolutely right to say that he was looking forward to the day he was caught.”
The barrister said the offences had been hanging over him for 15 months as a result in delays in the investigation by the Department of Work and Pensions.
The court heard how the department has just four officers covering an area from The Wash to the Scottish border.
Judge Geoffrey Marson described the delay in the matter coming to court as a “public disgrace.”
The court heard how the department has just four officers covering an area from The Wash to the Scottish border.
Judge Geoffrey Marson described the delay in the matter coming to court as a “public disgrace.”
Jailing Vollans, the judge said: “It is as blatant a piece of dishonesty as one can come across as far as benefit fraud is concerned.”
He added: “The fact that it was done to pay your son’s drug debt is no mitigation at all. The appropriate way of dealing with that is to go to the police.”
htp Dave
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