BENEFITS CHEAT STOLE £7,000 (From Warrington Guardian)

BENEFITS CHEAT STOLE £7,000

A BENEFIT cheat, who falsely claimed almost £7,000 in benefits from the council and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), has been sentenced to 100 hours community service and ordered to pay back the money, as well as £75 costs.

Lindsey Pearson, aged 22, of Brindley Avenue, Latchford, pleaded guilty at Warrington Magistrates Court last Tuesday to a failure to declare a change in her circumstances; namely undeclared maintenance, part-time earnings and a failure to declare that she was living with her partner.

In total, Pearson defrauded Warrington Borough Council of housing benefit and council tax benefit amounting to a total of £2,619.07 between February 2003 and March 2004.

She also defrauded the DWP of income support amounting to £4,374.71 between November 2001 and August 2003.

Adrian Webster, WBC's benefits manager, said: "Benefit cheats are not just defrauding the Government or the local authority, but their own neighbours and communities.

"They must realise that they cannot abuse the benefit system and steal from the rest of society. Fraud is a serious matter and this is a clear demonstration of our determination to tackle benefit theft and to reduce the amount of money lost through fraud and abuse.

"We are committed to ensuring that people get the benefits they are rightly entitled to."

Roy Paul, counter fraud operations manager with the DWP, said: "This case is a good example of how our fraud detection teams, working closely with the local authority, root out benefit cheats.

"We are making good progress, but people in Warrington can play their part by telling us about other fraudsters free and in confidence on our National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440."