The Mail on new benefit fraud and error totals

The Mail is reporting that "last year £3.3billion was lost to benefit cheats and mistakes by claimants and officials, up from £3.1billion in Labour’s final year in power".

The failure to crack down on fraud makes it even less likely that the Government will fulfil its promise to slash fraud and error by a quarter by 2015.

After a while, welfare should be conditional - depending on how much National Insurance claimants have paid in.

The sentencing is also woeful. Benefit thieves should know they will have to pay back twice what they stole, and get no benefits until they have. And any who don't go to prison should also have to do community service.

Redditch benefit thief gets six months

A Redditch woman has been sentenced to six months in prison for committing benefit fraud.

Amanda Dancer, aged 47, was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court for dishonestly obtaining over £75,000 in benefits by failing to declare her husband was living with her.

The court heard that Redditch Borough Council started looking into the claim after information was received suggesting that Mrs Dancer was claiming fraudulently.

The Department for Work and Pensions were invited to join the investigation after initial enquiries showed that benefits paid by both organisations were involved.

The investigators went on to uncover evidence to show that Mrs Dancer had been living with her husband since at least December 2002.

The false claims were stopped in January 2010 and overpayments of £50,652.90 Income Support, £20,549.34 Housing Benefit and £4,291.65 Council Tax Benefit were identified.

The case was originally heard at Redditch Magistrates Court where Mrs Dancer pleaded guilty to offences of dishonestly claiming benefits. Magistrates adjourned the case to the Crown Court as they felt that their sentencing powers were insufficient for the offences.

After hearing the facts of the case, Judge Juckes said that he considered Mrs Dancer had initially made a genuine claim, which became dishonest.

He added that the guidelines suggested a nine month prison sentence was appropriate, but he was prepared to reduce this to six months due to the early guilty plea, personal circumstances and the fact that Mrs Dancer would have genuinely qualified for around £20,000 during this time, if she had claimed the correct benefits.

Cllr Michael Braley, Redditch Borough Council Portfolio Holder for Corporate Management, said: “Dishonestly claiming benefits is a very serious matter and it can result in a prison sentence of up to seven years.

“This case shows that reporting a change in circumstances does not have to mean a total loss of benefits, but failing to report these new circumstances can lead to a prison sentence. This is why people claiming benefits must make sure that their claims are correct at all times.”

Another ridiculous benefit fraud sentence

A homeowner who claimed housing benefit but failed to declare that he owned a property has been prosecuted for benefit fraud.

Chiedu Ikenma, from Dagenham, claimed £5,180 of benefits he was not entitled to. He filled out application forms for housing benefit in June 2006 and June 2008 and a form for job seeker’s allowance in April 2006. On all three forms he failed to declare that he owned a flat in Napier Road, Newham.

Ikenma was caught by fraud investigators at Barking and Dagenham Council who were carrying out pro-active checks on housing benefit claimants living in privately rented properties. The Department for Work and Pensions was also involved in the investigation.

He pleaded guilty to three charges of making a false statement at Barking Court on 22 August. Magistrates ordered him to pay £2,000 in costs and gave him a two year conditional discharge.

Cllr Cameron Geddes, Cabinet Member for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, said:

We cannot allow council tax payers’ money to be siphoned off by people who make fraudulent benefit applications. That’s why we will continue to leave no stone unturned in our efforts to bring the culprits to justice.

Our fraud investigators use a variety of different methods to track down fraudsters. This particular case shows that pro-active checks are an important part of their armoury.

Councillor Geddes' investigators may be leaving no stone unturned, but the local magistrates aren't pulling their weight.

They should be issuing deterrent sentences.

Zero tolerance on benefit fraud & almost zero sentence

Scarborough Borough Council says it will continue pursuing a “zero tolerance” policy to benefit fraud, after a man was convicted of receiving more than £1,000 he was not entitled to.

Richard Hilton Lancaster had pleaded not guilty to 17 counts of fraud and dishonestly retaining payments adding up to £1,302.

After being found guilty by a jury to 12 of the charges, he was sentenced to an 18 month conditional discharge, plus a compensation order was made for the whole of the council tax benefit overpayment balance. Lancaster was also ordered to pay £500 costs.

Judge Michael Mettyear said the case had a “tortuous history” and though acknowledged the defendant had been going through a bad time, said he had been his “own worst enemy”.

Scarborough Borough Council’s Head of Finance and Asset Management, Nick Edwards, said: “The council has always adopted a zero tolerance approach to fraud and has a clear moral duty to pursue offenders.

“The defendant's failure to meet with officers at an earlier stage has incurred costs to the taxpayer and unnecessarily prolonged the case. The defendant could have avoided this had he acted responsibly throughout and we are pleased the Judge recognised this in his comments.

“I hope this case sends a strong message to anyone who is tempted to commit fraud, that you will be asked to fully account for your actions and, if needs be, this will be at court.”

The council’s fraud investigation team had worked jointly with officials from the Department for Work and Pensions to bring the prosecution.

Lancaster offered the defence that he had made mistakes on his benefit forms and failed to turn up for interviews with fraud investigators due to having had a mental breakdown.

While acknowledging Lancaster’s personal difficulties, Judge Mettyear said Lancaster had gone through a “rigmarole with the courts”, costing the public purse each time, instead of meeting with investigators when repeatedly requested, or dealing with court proceedings at an earlier stage.

Jail for this £20k benefit thief

A Merseyside benefit cheat who was exposed when secret footage captured him playing golf has been jailed for six months.

Peter David Crowder, 51, from Maghull, Liverpool, fraudulently claimed Disability Living Allowance (DLA) with mobility and care components worth £20,217 between October 2006 and September 2010, Liverpool Magistrates Court heard.

He pleaded guilty to failing to declare a change of circumstances and making a false statement to obtain benefits at an earlier hearing.

Crowder - who came to court using a walking stick - was discovered following an anonymous tip-off.

DWP investigators carried out covert surveillance of him driving, chipping and putting golf balls at Hurlston Hall Golf and Country Club, in Lancashire, where it is understood he had been a member since 2006.

The court heard that Crowder, a former psychiatric nurse at Ashworth Hospital in Merseyside, attended the club 151 times between April 4, 2009 and May 28, 2010.

Crowder retired from his job on medical grounds, claiming that he was suffering from rheumatoid and osteo-arthritis and had problems with his hands and feet.

When he made his claim for DLA he said he was using a walking stick at all times and was in “constant” pain.

He stated that he needed help with day-to-day functions, like washing and getting dressed, and that, because of the “severe pain and discomfort” he was in, he did not like to go out.

“When I do go out I grit my teeth and bear the pain,” he said in his claim.

But when DWP investigators secretly filmed Crowder, the footage they obtained showed him unpacking a golf trolley and pushing it around the 18-hole golf course, taking a range of shots with no apparent discomfort.

The DWP investigations also showed that he played in 49 golf competitions between January 1, 2007 and March 17, 2010 with club score cards showing that he played with handicaps of 26, 25 and 23.

Rebecca Templeman, defending, said Crowder had re-mortgaged his house to pay back the money he owed in full to the State.

She said he was a married father-of-two of previous good character who recognised his “wrongdoing” and was remorseful.

But, sentencing Crowder to six months in jail, District Judge Miriam Shelvey said he had lost his good character and integrity, adding: “It’s clear to me that you knew what you were doing and you knew that it was wrong.”

She said he had tried to “minimise” his position in subsequent interviews with probation officers but that position was clearly not reflected in the DVD evidence taken of him playing golf.

Judge attacks benefits fraud prosecutors

Dennis Douglas, 49, claimed arthritis meant it took him ten minutes to walk 40 yards, and was paid disability living allowance for almost a decade.

But his supposed impairment did not stop him taking annual holidays to the U.S. and clambering into and out of the cab of his lorry as he worked as a delivery driver.

He was finally exposed after surveillance footage showed him reversing the articulated lorry into yards, depots and factories, emptying loads and even cleaning the 44-tonne vehicle. Yesterday a judge bemoaned the fact that he couldn’t jail him – and instead gave him a stern lecture on how he had robbed the public purse.

‘While you were jetting off on your transatlantic holidays, the taxpayers were working their socks off to fill the hole in public accounts that you caused,’ Judge Brian Lewis told him.

‘It’s a thorough disgrace and you ought to feel ashamed of yourself.’

He added: ‘For a period of nine years, you dishonestly and quite deliberately cheated the public out of a sum of just over £20,000. That’s a substantial sum of money removed from a general welfare pot, which is put there by the taxpayer to underwrite certain expenses that the public expect.

‘£20,000 is the equivalent of a year’s salary for a newly qualified teacher or a nurse.’

Douglas was assessed as eligible for benefits in 1992, but yesterday admitted failing to report a change in circumstances when his health improved.

Judge Lewis complained that prosecutors had not charged him with the more serious offence of dishonestly claiming benefits, which could have seen him jailed for up to six months:

It’s just a shame they have chosen to prosecute in the way they have because this deserves a sentence of imprisonment.

Instead the father of two was sentenced to 56 days in prison suspended for two years and ordered to complete 180 hours of unpaid work. He has pledged to pay back the entire sum.

So that's all right then.

Douglas had been taken to hospital in February 1991 because of arthritis-related pain, and his weight ballooned to 20 stone, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

He was assessed as eligible for support the following year.

Kevin Slack, prosecuting, said: ‘He said it took him five to ten minutes to walk 40 yards and that he needed assistance. He said he had great difficulty walking down stairs.

‘But there must have been a marked improvement by 2001 by the fact that he got full time work as an HGV driver.’

Douglas, of Hunts Cross, Liverpool, failed to inform benefits staff and continued claiming the maximum rate of Disability Living Allowance for nine years, during which time he also worked as a salesman and went on annual holidays to America. In total, Douglas wrongly claimed £20,246.

The court heard that under the previous assessment system, Douglas had only been subjected to one medical examination, whereas now check-ups are yearly.

The Department of Work and Pensions welcomed the sentence (they think this is a suitable sentence for nine years of crime?) and said its prosecutions of benefits cheats had a 92 per cent success rate.

That's hardly the point. This guy dishonestly claimed disability allowance for nice years and then got prosecuted for a lesser offence. He must be laughing at the flat-footed DWP, and rightly so.

Slow benefits fraud investigation

A benefit cheat who pocketed more than £11,500 that he was not entitled to from the public purse said he couldn't be bothered to sign off and on between jobs.

City magistrates heard that Simon Paul Davies, 47, from Mumbles, undertook work with eight different employers while claiming benefits — without officially declaring any of the jobs with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of dishonestly making a false representation.

John Allchurch, prosecuting on behalf of the DWP, said: "Mr Davies was claiming benefit to which he was not entitled because he was working. There was an allegation received by the department in June 2008."

The court heard that the claims were initially legitimate but that the offences spanned from 2004 to 2008.

Davies, who at different times claimed benefits including Job Seekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and housing and council tax benefits, received an overpayment of £11,822.

Mr Allchurch said Davies admitted the offences when interviewed.

But it's taken three years to get to court.

"He said he'd not declared the work as he could not be bothered to sign off and on between jobs," said Mr Allchurch.

Stuart John, defending, said his client had recently conquered a drug addiction and was now drug free.

"Mr Davies would over the time in question become involved in a number of different companies for short periods of time," he said. "He accepts that he failed to disclose all the information to the department."

Mr John said that Davies was concerned with all of the jobs that they lacked stability due to their short-term nature.

"He's one of those individuals that when he's been well enough to actively seek employment he has," he said."He does not want to claim benefits.

"There was no long-term stability, it's not as if he had secure employment over a long period."

Magistrates heard Davies was currently subject to a suspended prison sentence order for an unrelated offence that post-dated the benefit issues.

He was sentenced to a 12-week curfew order to reside at his address between 6pm and 6am. In addition he was given a three- month prison sentence suspended for 12 months with supervision.

Benefit fraud and false passports

Millions of pounds in housing benefits and job seekers allowance may have been lost to fraudulent claims by fake passport holders.

Around 100 people in Islington, many of North African descent, are thought to have been using dodgy European identification to set up false addresses and scam huge amounts of cash.

Those in Islington are claimed to be part of a wider network of around 300 people across London who between them have cost around £3million in false claims.

Islington Council have been aware of the situation for more than a year and staff have been issued with instructions on how to spot the forgeries, already saving a “substantial sum of money”.

Officers are working in tandem with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and the police to crack down on the problem and a series of raids have led to arrests and the recovery of forged passports.

A spokesman for the council said:

The use of fake ID documents in support of claims for housing benefits has been on the increase recently and Islington has introduced stringent checks to identify fake claims. This includes trailing the use of a scanning device capable of detecting false passports, EU Identity Cards, driving licences, etc.

The council’s benefit investigation staff are liaising closely with the National Fraud Authority, the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the police and the UK Border Agency and the DWP in order to circulate details of known fake IDs to other organisations and, where possible, to apprehend individuals who are using fake ID’s to make benefit claims.

Last month, the DWP launched a mobile regional task force to tackle areas that are at high risk of benefit fraud.

Disabled benefits fraud

A benefits cheat who claimed she was so frail she couldn't walk without crutches was caught on camera - in 2005 - zooming down a water slide in her bikini.

Tina Attansio, 51, was framed by her own family holiday videos which showed her merrily splashing around on a sunshine holiday in the South of France.

The brazen mother-of-two admitted fiddling £25,000 of disability living - after benefits fraud investigators obtained the happy holiday film of sunshine breaks.

The incriminating family films showed Attansio enjoying two action-packed holidays over the last seven years - all while she was claiming top-rate disability benefits.

They capture her climbing up cobbled hills, skipping down steep steps and taking long walks on the beach.

And, just in case her disability was ever in doubt, she was also videoed in a bright red bikini happily whizzing down a steep flume in a South of France water park.

It also showed her easily clambering out of the swimming pool during the Mediterranean break.

Attansio was paid the highest rate allowance of incapacity benefits claiming she was 'too weak to walk any significant distance' without crutches.

But her holiday videos painted a very different picture.

One investigator said: 'It is amazing that she had the cheek to say she couldn't walk without crutches - especially when you see her in a bikini splashing down a water slide.

'The holiday video was like 'You've been Framed'. She obviously had no problem getting around on holiday.

'She was really enjoying herself without her crutches.'

Attansio arrived in Cardiff Crown Court on crutches and with her right arm in a brace.

But she pleaded guilty to fraudulently claiming £25,000 in benefits between August 2005 and February 2010.

Prosecutor Nicholas Gedge said: 'There will be an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act to recover some of this money.'

Attansio, who was represented by defending barrister Jennet Treharne, said nothing during the hearing before leaving on crutches.

Judge Stephen Hopkins QC adjourned the case for reports and Attansio, of Whitchurch, Cardiff, will return to court next month to be sentenced.

Baffling sentence for serial criminal

A 21-year-old Llanelli woman who continued to claim benefits after receiving £40,000 has been sentenced to four weeks in jail.

Elizabeth Emily Rose, of The Marine Hotel, New Dock Street, had claimed more than £8,000 in benefits and job seekers’ allowance she was no longer entitled to.

A joint investigation was undertaken with the Fraud Investigation Service of the DWP, following information that Rose had failed to declare a change in her circumstances.

It meant, specifically, that she had received capital in excess of the permissible limit for the benefits which she claimed.

Magistrates heard Rose had received £40,000 capital in December 2007 and failed to notify either the local authority or the DWP of this change in her circumstances.

She admitted the offence to officers of the council and DWP when interviewed under caution.

As a result, it was established that she had been overpaid £5,469 housing benefit, £120.28 council tax benefit, £2,627.08 job seekers’ allowance and £522.05 income support.

A warrant was issued for her arrest without bail after she failed to appear at Ammanford Magistrates’ Court and Rose was arrested on Monday, August 15.

The court heard that Rose had previously been given a 12-week suspended sentence in relation to theft.

The suspended sentence was imposed for breach of her probation with a further four weeks for the benefit offences.

Conditional welfare?

Neil O'Brien argues the case for "conditional welfare". Here's his most interesting idea.

After a period on welfare, he suggests, or immediately in some cases, people should have to work for their benefits. This, he argues, causes people to leave welfare more quickly, and find jobs that pay real money instead.

It would, incidentally, also make it harder for people to claim out of work benefits for any length of time while they were holding down an undeclared job.

This idea is controversial, but a poll for the think tank Policy Exchange a few months ago found that nearly 80 per cent of people supported the idea that those who had been on benefits for more than a year should have to do community work in return for their benefits.

In many other countries, he says, people on "workfare" can be seen cleaning the streets, picking up litter and removing graffiti.

This looks very fruitful. We know there are plenty of things people would like their local authorities to do which just can't be afforded. If those on workfare do those tasks, they aren't putting anyone out of a job, because local government could not have afforded to employ people to do the work in the first place.

This needn't just be "cleaning the streets, picking up litter and removing graffiti". Let the local community decide what they would like their local workfare claimants to do. Is this local referism again? Then so be it. (In Rossendale they could carry people's rubbish to local collection points, if the locals decided that was the best use of their labour. Better still, of course, to boot out the boobies who came up with that idea.)

Conditional welfare could "change the culture of entitlement without responsibility". It's popular. Let's do it.

A small but interesting benefits fraud

A South Somerset woman has been found guilty of benefit fraud – a month after her husband was sentenced for the same crime.

An investigation led by South Somerset District Council found that a Wincanton woman had failed to declare that she was working, but had continued to claim over £1,400 in housing and council tax benefits.

Well done the council for prosecuting for this small amount, showing the community that the thieves will end up in court.

The money was claimed between July and November 2009. The district council received an anonymous tip off.

So someone who knew them was outraged enough to shop her.

The woman did not attend court but Yeovil Magistrates decided to hear the case in her absence, and was found guilty of all six charges against her. She will be sentenced in court on September 5.

Her husband was sentenced in July this year because he had not disclosed tax credits and had made a false statement about the amount of hours his wife was working, whilst he was jointly claiming benefits with Trudy.

This blog keeps saying it's immoral for the state to rely on claimants to keep parts of the administration up to date with payments which other parts of the administration are making to them. Databases can and should communicate. It can't be hard or expensive.

He has also previously been convicted for similar offences.

But he was still able to do it again.

The husband must carry out 120 hours of unpaid community work within 12 months and was ordered to pay £500 costs, though he has appealed the outcome of the hearing.

They must repay the full amount of £1435.70.

Local councillor stole incapacity benefit

It's difficult not to agree with Richard North, who describes benefit thief Christopher Basson as a "Camden looter".

A former Liberal Democrat councillor, he dishonestly claimed the benefits despite receiving an allowance from Camden Council.

The 54 year-old, who resigned from the council in 2009 due to ill health, illegally claimed almost £12,000 in incapacity benefits for “depression and anxiety”.

Despite telling the DWP that he was not “working”, he also received nearly £26,000 in allowances during his three years as an elected member of the north London borough.

So what happened to him in these days of sterner sentencing? He was jailed for 28 days, suspended for a year.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to one count of failing to “notify a notifiable change of circumstances – social security”.

The court heard his fraud was uncovered by a DWP internal audit, which discovered he was an elected member.

Basson, currently seeking treatment for heroin addiction, was ordered to wear an electronic tag for three months and placed under a curfew from 7pm to 7am. He will also be forced to pay back the benefits.

Now where have we heard that before?

District judge Nicholas Evans warned Basson, who now earns £37,000 as a computer consultant, that if he committed any crimes “including dropping litter”, he would be jailed.

This is a further perversion of sentencing. Sentence him for the crime he's committed, rather than threatening him with prison for any trivial offence in the next twelve months, however irrelevant or inadvertent.

A truly abysmal and unjust piece of sentencing by District judge Nicholas Evans, trying I suppose to make the slap on the wrist sound like a meaningful punishment, but only making the injustice worse.

He shouldn't get a lighter sentence for wearing a suit and tie. He should get a heavier sentence for stealing from taxpayers while he was an elected representative.

“This was committed over a three year period when you held a representatives position at your local council,” the judge told the court.

“Clearly you are an intelligent man having subsequently gained a job as a computer consultant.

“I find it hard to believe that you did not appreciate what you were doing was not seriously wrong.”

Elise Jeremiah, prosecuting, earlier said Basson, who admitted being £55,000 in debt, had rightly claimed benefits from January 1997 after claiming he was too depressed too work.

Did the local Lib Dems not notice this depression which supposedly made him unfit to do work of any kind?

She told the court the fraud, which was committed between May 2006 and February 2009, was uncovered following an internal “purge” of his records.

Notice no one at the DWP picked this up at the time.

After being elected in 2006, he went on to attend only some “full council meetings” and important sub-committees. He was eventually overpaid £11,546 in benefits.

Basson, who represented himself, told the court from the dock, that he was the sole carer for his frail 91 year-old mother, who had dementia, Parkinson’s disease and osteoporosis.

The court heard he had only repaid £1400 at a “pathetic” £50 a month.

He denied his debts, which he currently repays about £600 a month, were a result of his heroin addiction but he did not elaborate further.

Outside court, Basson said he was “sorry” for his actions but declined to answer further questions from reporters.

Camden Council declined to comment. A DWP spokesman did not have any comment.

The tangled life of Brian Riley

A benefit cheat caught living “a life of Riley” on an island paradise has been sent back to prison for 12 months after failing to pay back £20,000 of his ill-gotten gains.

Brian Riley, from Bradford, was jailed for 360 days by magistrates in Leeds after defaulting on a repayment order.

The 60-year-old was jailed for eight months in November 2008 after claiming income support, council tax benefit and disability allowance for more than three years by pretending he was living in Newark Street, West Bowling, when he was actually living in Sri Lanka.

Earlier this month Riley, whose total benefit from wrongdoing was £77,279, sought to vary a £30,000 six-month confiscation order, imposed in May last year, on the grounds it was too high.

But the bid was thrown out at Bradford Crown Court.

Prosecutor Chloe Fairley told magistrates yesterday there was no hard evidence to show Riley had tried to sell his Sri Lankan home, which he needed to do in order to pay back the balance of money owed.

She added: “The prosecution position is the time has come for the matter to be finalised.”

Solicitor Stephen Winehouse, representing Riley, told the court no valuation of the house in Sri Lanka had been carried out and the confiscation order had been calculated on the basis of how much had been invested in the property, not how much it was worth.

Riley had purchased the property with his former girlfriend who refused to release her share without payment of £4,000, he said.

A caveat had also been registered on the house so anyone who bought it would also purchase a £3,000 debt owed to a builder, Mr Winehouse added.

He showed the bench a letter from Riley’s wife, detailing efforts to sell the property, and asked them to adjourn the matter so his client could lodge an appeal against the confiscation order.

But bench chairman Graham Foster told Riley: “At the end of the day this was originally £77,000. It’s carried on for about 15 months now.”

“The decision today is to activate the default sentence which is 360 days.”

When Riley was jailed in 2008, a spokesman for the Department of Work and Pensions fraud team said: “This man thought he could live a life of Riley at the taxpayers’ expense. He was wrong.”

After yesterday’s hearing, a DWP spokesman said: “As this case shows, if you commit benefit theft you have to pay back the money taken, and you face imprisonment and a criminal record.”

Neighbours shop disgusting £106k benefits thief

A benefits cheat who ran a successful building company received nearly £106,000 in handouts, after claiming he could not work because he had tennis elbow, report the Daily Mail and the Daily Star.

Michael Corrie, 50, from Epsom, Surrey, was caught out after the DWP received a tip-off from neighbours.

Over three and a half years he and his wife, Zoba claimed £105,955 in benefits while at the same time driving his company van and carrying out work for neighbours.

He turned up at court in a wheelchair, wearing a neck brace, and his arm was in a sling but Judge Neil Stewart condemned the 50-year-old's actions and jailed him for 13 months. He told him:

This was large-scale fraud committed over a number or years. It was brazen the way you went about your work.

'There is nothing reprehensible about working. What is reprehensible is that you claimed benefits while doing it. You took advantage of the system and defrauded the public.

Prosecutor John Law told Guildford Crown Court that his wife had set up a bank account with Halifax into which payments for building work were being paid.

His fraud was committed between October 2005 and May 2009 and he told local authority staff that he had not worked since 2000.

However receipts for his company showed that he had in fact ordered materials from a contractor on 64 different occasions and his van had his telephone number and home address printed on the side.

Neighbours said they had not seen Corrie using his wheelchair or neck brace for some time.

A week before they were due to stand trial Corrie and his wife admitted two charges of failing to notify of a change of circumstances.

Corrie also admitted a further two counts of dishonestly making false representation.

Richard Button, defending Corrie, described his client as not being a well man after falling off a roof in 2010 which left him needing surgery.

However, doctors' reports presented to the court said that prison would not affect his health.

Mrs Corrie, who is expecting the couple’s fourth child, was said to have “turned a blind eye” to her husband’s actions.

She did a lot more than that. She opened the bank account for the building business. The Daily Mail also shows her (apparently turning up at court) with his wheelchair.

She was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. Mrs Corrie, 33, was also ordered to be tagged and subjected to a curfew for the next two months.

While her husband was out working, she was also making money by running a business selling items on eBay. Investigators found a PayPal account which contained £3,900.

More to this story too

A benefits cheat has been sentenced to six weeks for fraudulently claiming £6,180.

Sort of.

Matthew Collins, from Southampton, admitted falsely claiming £2,953 in housing benefit, £680 council tax benefit, and £2,547 in job seekers allowance.

He made the claims between April 2008 and May 2009 while declaring he was a single person, when his partner, Samantha Gregory was living with him.

Collins was interviewed by investigators from Southampton City Council and the Department for Work and Pensions and initially denied the offence.

He later pleaded guilty at Southampton Magistrates’ Court.

He was sentenced to six weeks in prison but was released for time already served while he was held in custody.

Probably even more to this than meets the eye

A cheating carer who defrauded taxpayers of more than £13,000 has been jailed for a year.

Namibian care assistant Ndienlao Nakuta was arrested by the UK Border Agency while working in Southport on July 7.

The 32-year-old failed asylum seeker claimed £13,000 in tax credits for her young daughter – after she had been deported.

She then used fake identity documents to sneak back into the country and work as a carer in Southport.

Liverpool Crown Court heard Nakuta arrived in the UK in February 2004 on a two-year working holiday visa from her native Namibia.

She gave birth to her daughter in January 2006, but her visa ran out the following month and they were refused permission to stay.

Both she and her daughter were deported in September 2007, but on June 24, this year, she used a fake national insurance card and a forged passport with a false visa saying she was entitled to work.

But Iain Criddle, prosecuting, told how she fell under suspicion and the police were alerted.

When her home was searched the fake documents were found, as well as a genuine Namibian passport with her real details.

Mr Criddle added: “Enquiries revealed she had been claiming tax credits since 2007 though she and her daughter had left the country in July that year. The total amount paid since 2007 until her arrest was £13,508.”

But Jonathan Clarke, defending, said the tax credit claim had been made in both Nakuta and her Namibian partner’s names and she had only actually claimed £1,000 by herself.

He said: “Her presence here was not legitimate but she was working hard in a false name putting back into the community in a hard working and low-paid job.”

Nakuta, of Halsall Lane, Ormskirk, pleaded guilty to two offences of fraud, two of possessing forged documents and one of possessing the fake NI card for use in fraud.

Judge Roger Dutton jailed her for 12 months.

In interview Nakuta said that she had decided to return to this country as she was regarded as “unlucky” in Namibia because her mother had died in childbirth and she has a disabled son.

She told police she had left her two children in the care of a 99-year-old female relative and wants to go back home to them.

Eight months jail for £45,000 benefit fraudster

A benefits cheat who fraudulently claimed almost £45,000 has been jailed at a Peterborough court.

Catherine Boardley appeared before Peterborough Crown Court where she was jailed for eight months, after pleading guilty to charges of failing to declare her correct circumstances at an earlier hearing.

The court heard that Boardley claimed housing benefit and council tax benefit on the basis she received income support as a lone parent.

Anonymous information was received alleging that she had failed to declare that her partner was living with her and that he was in paid employment.

A full investigation revealed that Boardley’s partner had been living at the property with her for more than four years. As a result of her failure to notify Peterborough City Council of a change in her circumstances, Boardley was overpaid £15,399.70 in housing benefit; £2,725.12 in council tax benefit; and £26,651.81 in income support.

Recorder Christopher Forsyth sentenced Boardley to serve eight months in prison. She will also have to pay back the money she claimed fraudulently.

Peterborough City Council’s head of governance Diane Baker welcomed the sentence.

Wide open to benefit fraud

A benefit cheat who used multiple identities, including the name Lucky, to fraudulently claim £150,000 has been jailed for 21 months at Blackfriars Crown Court.

Ubax (or Lucky) Said (31, formerly of Mansfield Rd in Camden) claimed more than £22,000 from Camden Council in housing benefit. She also created the false identity of Ayan Artan and claimed more than £63,000 from Islington Council at an address in their Borough.

Ms Said was charged with fifteen counts of false accounting relating to a range of benefit claims made in the name of Ayan Artan, plus further counts of obtaining a money transfer by deception, relating to a false child benefit claim. She was also charged with fraudulently obtaining a tax credit relating to a child tax credit claim and obtaining leave to remain in the UK by deception.

Ms Said had been in custody since breaching her bail conditions in January 2011.

The fraud was uncovered when Ms Said was arrested by police for suspected shoplifting and documents were found at her home showing the name Ayan Artan with Ms Said’s photograph.

Camden Council then investigated the claim history of Ms Said, working with the UK Border Agency and the Department for Work and Pensions. Islington Council also investigated claims in the name of Ayan Artan.

The investigation uncovered benefits and tax credit claims in the name Artan, which were false because the same benefits were also being claimed by Said. In the name of Artun she also made false claims to child benefit and child tax credit for a child which she admitted did not exist.

A tangled, unlikely tale

A benefits cheat, who claimed he had been strong-armed into claiming housing benefit, has publicly apologised after swindling more than £6,000 of taxpayers' money.

Hitesh Vaghela, 33, claimed £6,465 in housing benefit and incapacity benefit he was not entitled to.

He failed to notify the authorities he had vacated a flat in Newark Road, Lincoln, and went on to forge a tenancy agreement to get further benefit.

His landlord knew nothing of this contract.

Vaghela, who now lives in Leicester, worked as a bank clerk for HSBC - oh great - and then as a customer advisor for Severn Trent water company while claiming incapacity benefit.

Vaghela claimed during his trial he was beaten, forced into heroin addiction, made to live in a brothel and strong-armed into claiming housing benefit.

But he was found guilty and arrested on a warrant after failing to attend Lincoln Magistrates' Court for sentencing on June 28.

Vaghela, who was this week given 24 months' probation supervision and ordered to pay the City of Lincoln Council £2,500 compensation, said from the court dock: "I'm really sorry for what I did. I did not mean it."

The probation service has raised concerns that Vaghela, who says he hears voices in his head telling him to self-harm, is taking non-prescribed medication when it is not known what his mental health condition is.

Vaghela was found guilty of failing to reveal he no longer lived in the flat between April 4, 2008 and May 4, 2008 and making a false representation to the City of Lincoln Council on or about October 31, 2008.

Housing benefit was paid until June 28, 2009, and the total overpayment was £3,009.61.

Vaghela previously admitted failing to notify a change in circumstances to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), in that he was working, between April 21, 2008 and August 21, 2008, and from December 1, 2008 to February 2, 2009.

He received £3,455.87 in incapacity benefit he was not entitled to.

Emma Brownless, prosecuting for the City of Lincoln Council, said: "Several attempts were made to request Mr Vaghela to attend for interview.

"On each occasion, he failed to attend City Hall."

David Payne, prosecuting for the DWP, said an investigation was launched into Vaghela's entitlement to incapacity benefit after HM Revenue and Customs noticed excessive National Insurance contributions for someone on benefits.

"Inquiries were made and it was discovered he had worked for the HSBC as a clerk and then for Severn Trent as a customer advisor," said Mr Payne.

"He did say he did the work to try to improve his health."

The court heard the money he owes the DWP is being deducted at source.

Light sentence for another benefit offence

A jobless benefit fraudster who 'invented' a fake child and claimed nearly £50,000 for childcare costs has been spared jail.

Michaela Bartlett had two young children who had been taken into care in Bolton when she made up a third child in order to swindle more benefits cash.

The 33-year-old drug addict told HM Revenue and Customs she was working 30 hours a week, and she was receiving £165 tax credits a week for childcare costs during an 'extraordinary period of dishonesty'.

The claim started in May 2008 and the children were taken off her in September that year.

Yet she kept up the pretence and in June 2010 she contacted the helpline and said she had a baby the month before.

Bartlett escaped jail after being handed a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

Barbara Webster, prosecuting, told Bolton Crown Court that the child was fictitious.

The total overpayment was £49,734, with Bartlett admitting four counts of fraud at the same court at an earlier hearing.

The court was told that she had previous convictions for benefit fraud - she was sentenced for some of those offences while continuing to fraudulently claim from HMRC.

Pretty in depth investigation then.

The fraud ended in October 2010 when Bartlett was arrested on suspicion of tax credits fraud.

Chris Dawson, defending, said: 'She has suffered an extremely troubled and chaotic adult life. She has been plagued by serious drug addiction. 'Her record does her no favours at all.'

He added that she is taking methadone and has halved her intake since she got help from the community drugs team last August.

Mr Dawson said she is now working full time selling franking machines to businesses.

Bartlett was ordered to complete 120 hours unpaid work and go on the new direction activity requirement.

Recorder John Bromley-Davenport QC said: 'You pleaded guilty to fraudulent activity of which the public purse was deprived of over £49,000.

'That was in the context of an extraordinary period of dishonesty of all kinds. 'I accept your personal difficulties and addiction to drugs.

'I would have sent you to prison for quite a long time but two factors weigh on my mind.'

After sentencing, Mike O'Grady, Assistant Director, Criminal Investigation for HMRC said: 'Michaela Bartlett told blatant lies when she contacted HMRC.

'Her two children didn't live with her, she wasn't in full time employment and she paid no childcare costs at all.

'Anyone who thinks that tax credits fraud will pay should be aware that we will investigate claims, and pursue those who bend the rules.'

"Incontinent" benefits thief jailed

An incontinent benefits cheat who claimed £30,000 of taxpayers' money said she needed the cash to pay for her cleaning bills.

Jayne Cruden said her medical condition was the reason she illegally pocketed £140 in benefits every week for four years, using it to pay for washing powder and electricity bills.

However, her excuse did not wash with a judge, who jailed her for six months for the deception and instead blamed her fraud on greed.

Cruden, a 50-year-old cleaner from Middlesbrough, admitted seven charges of benefit fraud at Teesside Crown Court, but claimed it was connected with her incontinence.

During the hearing, it was calculated that the fraud amounted to £140 a week from November 2006 to October 2010.

Judge Peter Fox QC said: 'There is a strong element of greed it seems to me in this case.'

The court was told that Cruden defrauded her way to £27,986 from illegally claiming Jobseekers Allowance, housing benefit, council tax benefit and employment support allowance.

Jailing Cruden for six months, he told her: 'Even if you have had this problem it's very difficult to say, and indeed I don't accept, that your milking the system to the tune of what amounts to about £140 a week, every week for four years, was at all appropriate for washing powder and ancillary needs.'

A joint investigation by Middlesbrough Council and Jobcentre Plus found she was living at her Maple Street home not alone but with Thomas Ingledew and that she worked as a cleaner for Rentokil.

Andrew Teate, defending, said Cruden had gone to 'great lengths' to hide her condition from others.

He said: 'She has believed that people would be aware of the condition she suffers from and that as a result of that has gone to great lengths that people wouldn't realise what was going on.'

Norwich uses confiscation orders

Two benefit cheats who swindled thousands of pounds in taxpayers money face having to sell their property to pay off their debt.

Norwich Crown Court has ordered that Terence Block must pay back the £20,000 he owes to Norwich City Council - and that could force him to sell a bungalow he owns.

And Sylve Provot faces selling her car to pay back some of the £3,171 she was not entitled to claim.

Norwich City Council had applied for its first ever restraint order under the Proceeds of Crime Act to freeze the assets of Mr Block.

As reported in the Evening News, Block was given a four-month suspended prison sentence in May after he admitted claiming more than £20,000 in benefits he was not entitled to.

He had fraudulently claimed incapacity benefit, housing benefit and council tax benefit. The court heard Block had claimed incapacity benefit while working, had a number of undeclared bank accounts and had said he did not have any property when he actually owned a bungalow which his mother had lived in.

At a confiscation hearing, the crown court heard he owned that bungalow, with an equity of £50,000, which he could now have to sell to pay back the money he swindled.

The court also said he must pay £3,150 towards the council’s costs of taking the case to court. The money must be paid by February next year.

The city council also applied for a confiscation order after Provot fiddled £3,305 from the state by not declaring she had inherited £29,000.

The crown court heard in April how she had claimed council tax and housing benefit from the city council as well as income support from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), but failed to notify the authorities when she inherited 34,000 euros.

She admitted failing to notify the change in circumstances and Judge Peter Jacobs said it was public money which had been defrauded and the cash had to be repaid – especially at a time when everyone, including local authorities, were facing cutbacks.

Last week, the court heard she owned a car, which has an estimated value of £1,800, and she faces having to sell that vehicle within 28 days to pay back some of the cash she owes,

If the pair do not pay the cash, they face a spell in prison.

A spokesman for Norwich City Council said:

This is the first time the city council has used legal powers at its disposal to secure two confiscation orders.

These in turn led to the confiscation hearings which will see the money that was fraudulently obtained returned to the public purse.

These orders, brought under the Proceeds of Crime Act, show what our strategy will be in the future and reflect our determination not to tolerate benefit fraud.

Gap in benefit fraud enforcement powers

I asked here why Hounslow Borough Council had to resort to handwriting analysis to prove a "tenant" and a "landlord" were the same person.

"Benefits Bod" writes:

Perhaps surprisingly, there is no legal basis on which anyone can be compelled to attend an interview in relation to, specifically, Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit.

Authorities have the right to ask, but not compel.

Again in the context of HB/CTB, the same applies to visits to claimants homes. An authority can visit to the extent of getting to the front door, but there is power to insist on entry into the premises.

Wake up, government! It's a crime, for goodness sake!

Sub-letting a council home to be criminalised?

Council tenants who sub-let their homes could be jailed under proposals being considered by the government.

Criminal sanctions at long last.

New laws would target an estimated 50,000 people who rent out their council homes while living elsewhere.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps told the Daily Telegraph those abusing the system could have their homes taken from them and face imprisonment.

There is currently no criminal sanction against council home sub-letting, which is believed to cost about £5bn a year.

Under the proposals, properties taken from the sub-letter would be freed up to be rented to those in greatest need on the housing waiting list.

An estimated 1.8 million families are waiting for a council house.

Mr Shapps told the Daily Telegraph: "Social housing is really precious and it's not right that tenancy fraud and abuse locks out some of the most vulnerable families from getting a roof over their heads."

Some people who sub-let are thought to earn as much as £20,000 a year from the arrangement.

For previous posts on why this is important, click the social housing fraud label below this post.

Humph's son was benefit thief

The son of broadcasting legend Humphrey Lyttelton has appeared in court charged with benefit fraud.

David Lyttelton, 53, failed to declare a large inheritance from the much-loved BBC personality known as ‘Humph’, while claiming more than £4,000 in income support and council tax benefit.

Officials discovered that the broadcaster and jazz musician, who died in 2008, left nearly £1.2million in his will and that his estate was shared by his sons Anthony and David and daughters Georgina and Henrietta.

After an investigation David Lyttelton, from Elm, near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, admitted receiving the inheritance in October 2009.

He said he had spent some of the money clearing debts but admitted that the windfall should have been declared.

Magistrates at King’s Lynn heard he was overpaid more than £3,600 in income support by the Department for Work and Pensions between October 2009 and May 2010.

He also received £530 in council tax benefit illegally from Fenland district council between November 2009 and May 2010.

Lyttelton was convicted last month and sentenced to 80 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £200 in costs.

Another "disabled" golfer

A benefits claimant who said he was too crippled by arthritis to climb a fight of stairs was filmed by undercover investigators playing golf - see images.

Former psychiatric nurse Peter Crowder, 51, who cited rheumatoid osteoarthritis for his early retirement, claimed over £20,000 in disability living allowance and received mobility and care benefits after claiming he struggled to bath himself.

He told the Department for Work and Pensions he took six minutes to climb a flight of stairs and needed helping washing.

But Crowder found himself bunkered when officials discovered he was an avid golfer, racking up 151 visits to the £1,000-a-year Hurlston Hall golf club in Scarisbrick, Lancashire, and competing in 49 competitions in just over two years and notched up a handicap of 23.

Following a tip off, officers amassed secret video evidence which showed Crowder picking up golf balls, unloading his golf buggy and playing golf for hours.

Today at Liverpool magistrates' court, Crowder of Maghull, Liverpool pleaded guilty to fraudulently failing to declare change in circumstances.

The court heard now Crowder had taken an early retirement on medical grounds in 2006 from his job as a psychiatric nurse at Ashworth General Hospital - a role sometimes requiring 18-hour shifts three days a week.

He said his hands and feet were in pain and kept him from doing his job.

After consulting the Citizen's Advice Bureau, he claimed disability living allowance, mobility and care and collected £20,217 between October 2006 and September 2010.

Prosecuting, Jeremy Durston said among Crowder's complaints were that he took five to six minutes to climb the stairs. 'He said he needed help washing and bathing and required a walking stick to get about,' he added.

But over a three-day surveillance period in September 2010, he was witnessed at the Hurlston Hall golf course and country club - with a £1,000 membership - 'unloading his golf buggy and playing golf for a significant number of hours'.

'He'd been a regular member of the club since 2006, playing regular rounds of golf,' said Mr Durston.

The DWP investigation, which followed an anonymous tip-off, revealed he had partaken in 49 competitions between January 2007 and March 2010 and had swiped in 151 times between April 2009 and May 2010.

A skilled golfer, he had an average score of 82 and a handicap of 23.

Mr Durston said he had made no repayments so far.

Defending, Phil Lieber said he'd taken out a second mortgage to begin making the repayments 'as quickly as possible'.

He said of Crowder: 'He makes no excuses.' Mr Lieber added: 'In his arthritic condition he has good days and bad days, as with most conditions.

'He received ongoing treatment for this conditions from his GP. He was advised to get what exercise he could.'

But district judge Miriam Shelvey highlighted DWP notes indicating he had told his GP that he couldn't exercise, and asked if his offer to repay quickly wasn't a ''buy yourself out of jail' card' before considering sending the case to crown court for sentencing.

He will be sentenced at Liverpool magistrates' court next week.

Handwriting analysis used to prove simple fraud

A benefit fraudster from Hounslow who changed his name to avoid being caught has been sent to prison for 12 months.

John Taylor scammed the council out of more than £40,000 over several years by obtaining property under a false name, but was eventually snared when his handwriting was studied by forensic experts.

He bought a house under the alias of Wayne Wolsey Vernon on May 22 2003 for £225,000.

He then made four fraudulent claims for housing and council tax benefit, claiming that 'Wayne Wolsey Vernon' was in fact his landlord, who had increased his rent four times between June 2003 and March 2008.

Mr Taylor had been claiming housing benefit and council tax benefit from Hounslow Council since December 1997.

His case was referred to Hounslow Council's housing benefit fraud investigation unit on April 8 2008 for investigation following another claim from Mr Taylor for discretionary housing payments.

Documents in the name of John Taylor and in the name of Wayne Vernon were then submitted to the Laboratory of Government Chemists for the handwriting to be analysed by one of their forensic scientists, which concluded they were produced by the same author.

Why didn't they just call them both in at the same time?

It was calculated that between 23 June 2003 and 26 October 2008, Mr. Taylor was overpaid housing benefit to the sum of £42,238.

Mr Taylor admitted all four charges of fraud at Brentford Magistrates Court on July 22 2011 and was sentenced to a total of 12 months imprisonment.

Cllr Ed Mayne, Hounslow Council's cabinet member for crime and community safety said: "Mr Taylor's offences were considered by the court to be extremely serious - these were multiple acts of fraud committed over a long period of time with a high degree of planning.

"Our housing benefit investigation unit was able to spot the fraud and swiftly prosecute Mr Taylor. This sends out a message that if you commit benefit fraud in the borough, you will be caught and sent to prison."

Mother of BGT star was benefits thief

The mother of a Britain's Got Talent star has been exposed as a benefits cheat who swindled £20,000 out of the taxpayer by pretending to be a struggling single parent while her 12-year-old son performed on TV.

Mandy Davis, 43, watched proudly as her son Aidan came fifth in the TV talent show two years ago.

Aidan Davis wowed the judges and millions of viewers with his jaw-dropping, body-popping dance routines which he made up in his bedroom.

But while the nation cheered on her son, Davis was conning the taxpayer out of more than £20,000 after failing to tell the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) she was no longer a single mum-of-two.

Aidan, now 14, presents his own TV show for youngsters on CBBC every week at 5.30pm called 'Friday Download'.

Yesterday his mum, who appeared backstage on BGT with presenters Ant and Dec, was given an eight week prison sentence suspended for 12 months at Birmingham Magistrates Court.

She was also ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work after pleading guilty to benefit fraud at an earlier hearing on July 19.

Chairman of the bench Mrs J Good told her: 'We are making this order because these offences are so serious and a custodial sentence is the only appropriate option.

'But due to your voluntary repayments and the fact it is your first offence we are going to suspend this sentence.

'On the condition you do not commit another offence in the next 12 months.'

The court heard Davis fraudulently claimed lone parent status while living with Aidan's famous bodybuilding dad Leroy for nearly three years.

She started legitimately claiming benefits in 1990 but she failed to tell the DWP when husband Leroy moved back into the family home in Selly Oak, Birmingham, in 2006.

Leroy, who once trained legendary bodybuilder Dorian 'The Shadow' Yates, is also father of Aidan's older brother Liam, 22.

Davis claimed a total of £20,548 between June 1, 2006 and May 22, 2009 after pretending to be a single mum.

She fraudulently claimed £5,817.27 in income support and £14,731.55 in housing benefit and council tax payments.

Claire Beddow, prosecuting, said: 'Mrs Mandy Davis claimed income support in September 1990 on the grounds that she was a lone parent and that she had no means to support herself and her family.

'Evidence suggests that Mrs Davis had failed to declare a change of circumstances namely that she had been living together with Leroy Davis.

'Mrs Davis stated that her husband worked away and sometimes stayed at her home." Davis claimed Leroy had been sending his bank statements to her house because he did not get on with his family.

She also claimed that he did not pay child support for his children because she never asked him to. But when she was shown evidence including a mobile phone bill and home insurance that registered Leroy at the property she broke down and told DWP investigators 'it doesn't look good.'

Abid Hussain, defending, told the court Davis was unaware she was breaking the law because her husband, who earned £500-a-week, only lived at the house on weekends.

He said: 'Her claims were legitimate from the outset. It was only the last three years she failed to declare a change in her circumstances.

'She has been making repayments of £350. She has made eight payments so far. "This will have a serious impact on her future employment but more importantly it will impact on her two children, who are 14 and 22 and still reside with her.

'The two children are going to feel the brunt of any press coverage.'

Mandy, who was not accompanied by her husband, refused to comment outside court yesterday.

Aidan shot to fame in the show with his incredible street dance routines and cheeky smile.

After his first audition, a stunned Simon Cowell told him: 'I think you're better than any dancer on this show, you are super, super, super talented.'

On his website, Aidan paid tribute to his mum for helping his career.

He said: 'I practice around the house - outside, and in my room. When I've perfected a move I'll go downstairs and show my mum.'

Welfare Reform Minister Lord Freud said: 'When people receive benefits from us they enter into a contract to tell us of any change in their circumstances.

'Deliberately not doing so is a crime and takes valuable funds from those who need them the most.

'At best they will have to repay us all the money they have taken, at worst they will end up a criminal and in the pages of a newspaper.'

Gravesham benefit thief pursued for repayment

A 'hard working' and 'decent' woman has 'blackened' her name after pleading guilty to benefit fraud says a judge.

Mrs Beryl Chambers, from Gravesend, appeared before Maidstone Crown Court on 8 July and was ordered to repay the £13,472 by 29 July or face being held in contempt of court. The compensation order was given after she falsely claimed housing benefit from Gravesham Borough Council and had only offered to repay the amount in small weekly instalments, despite having thousands of pounds in the bank.

Mrs Chambers, who had previously appeared before Dartford Magistrates Court on 27 October 2010 after admitting she lied about her savings on her housing benefit application, also appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on 26 January where she was ordered to complete 120 hours of community service.

His Honour Judge Jeremy Carey told the 72-year-old that she must take responsibility for defrauding the benefit system. He said, "you should be ashamed of yourself; there is no good reason for your actions.

"I am not going to send you to prison, not because a 70-year-old should not go to prison, but because there are other punishments that will be equally effective.

"I am going to impose a community order. Firstly because you can, and will repay the money; secondly, because I judge this to be the most effective punishment; thirdly because you have been punished by the loss of your good name at a senior age.

"You have had a decent, hardworking life and you have now lost your good reputation which I judge to be a substantial punishment."

Leader of Gravesham Borough Council Cllr John Burden said: "stealing money from the public purse is totally unacceptable and I completely agree with His Honour Judge Jeremy Carey when he says Mrs Chambers must take responsibility for her actions.

"The benefit system is in place to help those residents who genuinely need financial help, and it is people like Mrs Chambers who prevent honest members of the community from receiving what they need and are entitled to."

Council shock as benefit fraud charges dropped

Croydon Council has hit out at the justice system after the town's most notorious benefit cheat had charges against him dropped – following two years of legal wrangles and dozens of court appearances.

David Port was alleged to have fraudulently claimed more than £100,000 in support he was not entitled to.

But following constant claims that Port, 56, is seriously ill, judge Stephen Waller decided it would not be in the public interest to continue the prosecution. Charges against his wife Susan were also dropped.

A council spokesman told the Advertiser: "We are obviously very disappointed with this outcome – the council's fraud investigation team had spent a long time gathering evidence to support the case, and our first priority is to protect taxpayers' money and ensure claims are not fraudulently made.

"The council believes it has a strong case but under suggestion from the court, it has been determined impractical to proceed at this time."

Port should have been at Croydon Crown Court last Wednesday to be told the case had been dropped.

But, not for the first time, the court was told he had been taken ill, having been rushed to hospital after suffering an epileptic fit.

A week earlier he had not been able to appear before the court because a stroke he suffered last year left him bedridden. However, Port has not completely escaped justice.

He will still be sentenced for fraudulently claiming £46,000 in disability allowance for over six and a half years.

In February 2009, Port pleaded guilty to falsely claiming disability allowance, falsely claiming direct payments from the council and falsely claiming housing improvements.

At the time the court heard how he had been caught on camera by the council's fraud investigators mowing the lawn, building a trellis, sawing wood and carrying boxes.

He had been granted the higher rate of disability allowance, based on a self-assessment, claiming he could only walk a few meters without experiencing severe discomfort.

A report from the Department of Work and Pensions said an investigation found Port had "demonstrated a level of ability which is incompatible with an award of living allowance."

In January 2009, Port told an Advertiser reporter that he hadn't exaggerated his condition. He said: "I can't say what my daily life will be – I could have blinding days and I could have bad days. I stated that I had a lot of pain in my back and it did give me a jitter at the top of my legs. It just hurts all the time."

Port was remanded in his absence before he is sentenced on August 12. It is expected that he will be given a community order.

htp Dave

Enterprising benefit thief jailed

A benefit fraudster who was wrongly paid more than £33,000 after making fraudulent claims has been sent to jail for a year and eight months.

Hussain Hashmi, 37, who also used the names Imtiaz Hussein Shah and Imtiaz Hussein Syed, forged documents to support his claims that he paid rent to a series of landlords.

He later bought two properties using two further false identities and used the fake documents to fraudulently apply to Southend Council for housing and council tax.

Hashmi, from Westcliff, also filled out benefit forms for his mother, falsely claiming that she was paying rent to a bogus landlord called Riaz Syed.

Hashmi admitted ten specimen counts of fraud when he appeared before Basildon Crown Court last month.

On Tuesday Judge Alan Saggerson jailed him for 20 months for what he described as “a deliberate criminal enterprise, professionally and carefully planned.”