Woman defrauded £15,000 in benefits (From Warrington Guardian)

Woman defrauded £15,000 in benefits

A WOMAN living with her husband cheated taxpayers out of more than £15,000 by claiming she was a single parent.

Katrina Atherton, of Festival Avenue, in Orford, was ordered to pay back the money plus £75 costs, and was also sentenced to a 210-hour community punishment order by Warrington magistrates.

The court was told last Tuesday that the 41-year-old defrauded Warrington Borough Council of nearly £4,000 in housing and council tax benefits between March 2002 and May 2003.

She also falsely claimed nearly £12,000 income support from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) over the same period. She was found guilty on October 26 of three counts of failing to declare changes in circumstances and one count of false declarations.

Speaking after the sentencing, Adrian Webster, the council's benefits manager, said: "Fraud is a serious matter and this case is a clear demonstration of our determination to tackle benefit theft and to reduce the amount of money lost through fraud and abuse."

Roy Paul, fraud operations manager at the DWP, added: "People in Warrington can play their part by telling us about alleged fraudsters free and in confidence, on our National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854440."