No jail for £103k benefits thief

A doctor who fraudulently claimed more than £100,000 in benefits while secretly owning a Spanish holiday home and receiving an NHS pension has walked free from court.

Dr Barbara Longley, 60, made repeated claims for benefits over six years from Brighton and Hove City Council but failed to declare her three-bedroom property in Alicante.

The mother-of-two, from Hove, Sussex, also hid an NHS pension and a bank account containing several thousand pounds.

Longley admitted ten counts of fraudulently claiming housing and council tax benefit and income support totalling £103,645 at Hove Crown Court.

But she walked free from court after being given a suspended sentence.

The court heard she had already paid back more than £70,000 by selling her Spanish property and will have to repay the remaining £31,849 owed to the council and the Department of Work and Pensions.

Rowan Jenkins, prosecuting, said: ‘Dr Longley made a series of applications for benefits, the first in May 2003, when she completed an application for housing and council tax benefit.

‘She stated her only income was child benefit and that she held no other property.

‘She didn’t declare she had a £6,500 a year pension from the National Health Service.’

The court heard Longley then continued to make benefit claims until 2009.

Mr Jenkins added: ‘She stated she was finding it hard to pay her bills for rent and other bills as well.

‘She said her only income was from benefits and didn’t mention her pension income at all.’

Longley trained as a doctor and held several posts within the medical profession before being diagnosed with bi-polar disorder.

Nick Hamlin, defending the single mother-of-two, asked the court to show ‘mercy’ because of her mental health problems.

He said: ‘Through most of her adult life she has either been depressed or in a manic mood.

‘Having obtained her qualifications she was struck by this illness and that, on many occasions, leaves her unable to express herself and leads her to errors of judgement.’

Judge Richard Hayward handed Longley a 12 month sentence suspended for two years.

Judge Hayward said: ‘Clearly you are an intelligent woman. You qualified and practised as a doctor for some years but your life has been blighted by mental health illness.’

She was ordered to repay £2,500 court costs.

h/t Dave