Benefit cheat fraudulently claimed more than £25,000

Alan Bamford, from Penketh, swindled the taxpayer out of more than £25,000 during a five-year con.

But the 55-year-old was handed a suspended prison sentence at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, April 9.

The court heard that Bamford’s fraudulent claiming began in 2013 after he was forced into early retirement due to mobility problems from a back problem after 20 years in work.

At this time, the defendant claimed that the pension he was paid was far lower than the actual figure – stating that he received £60 each month, when he was in fact in receipt of another £400 per month.

He also failed to notify the Department for Work and Pensions of ISAs he held which were worth £27,000.

Between 2013 and 2018, Bamford – of Denehurst Avenue – claimed an additional £25,314.87 in employment and support allowance above what he was entitled to.

But the scam was eventually uncovered and he was found guilty of two counts of benefit fraud after a trial.

Recorder David O’Mahony handed him a 30-week imprisonment suspended for a year last week.

Bamford, who has no previous convictions and walked with the aid of a stick in court, has repaid some of his ill-gotten gains but will be jailed for seven months if he does not cough up the remaining £23,448.63 in the next three months.

Sentencing, recorder O’Mahony said: “You declared a small pension of £60 per month, however you failed to declare your much larger pension and you also failed to declare ISAs in the total amount of £27,000.

“In 2014, 2015 and 2016 you were asked for updates, but on none of these occasions did you tell the authorities about your other pension – in fact, your income meant you were above the £16,000 threshold above which you were not entitled to any income and support allowance and this fraud continued for five years until it was discovered.

“This was a claim that was fraudulent from the outset.

“But you have no previous convictions, you have shown remorse and you have a significant medical condition requiring long-term treatment.

“The appropriate sentence is one of 30 weeks – the question is whether I can suspend it.

“I’ve considered the matter carefully and I can suspend the sentence on the basis of your strong personal mitigation.

“If you commit any offence in the next 12 months, you will be brought back to court and it’s likely that this sentence will be brought into operation.”

Bamford was also ordered to serve a 15-week electronically monitored curfew from 7pm to 7am, handed a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 15 days and told to pay a victim surcharge.