Mum's 3-year benefit fiddle

Sep 5 2007

A MOTHER of three who fiddled more than £25,000 in benefits because of "substantial" debts has been allowed to keep her freedom.

Judge Michael Dudley told 35-year-old Tina Payne: "You know what you did deserves a prison sentence. The money you cheated from the public purse was large."

He said Payne had carried on the fraud for nearly three years, adding: "There is no doubt you were hoping it would go away - but it was bound to be discovered."

Payne, of Hall Street East, Darlaston, Walsall, admitted two charges of failing to notify a change in her circumstances to the Department of Work and Pensions.

She was given a 10-month jail term, suspended for two years, and also made the subject of an 18-month supervision order.

Neil Chawla, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court that Payne claimed a total of £25,242 in benefits while her partner was working as a driver.

Jas Mann, defending, said Payne was heavily in debt and "she had been caught in the poverty trap."

It was originally a legitimate claim for benefits, but it continued after her partner found work.

"There was no sophistication to the fraud and no extravagant lifestyle."