A FORMER football agent has left Warrington Borough Council nearly £4,000 out of pocket after falsely claiming housing benefit for nine months.
Antonio Spada, 55, claimed housing benefit totalling £3,990 in respect of a property at Laburnum Court, Lymm, while actually living in Italy, Warrington Crown Court was told.
Spada, who is still registered with the Football Association as an agent, pleaded guilty to making false representations to obtain housing benefit.
Hannah Wood, prosecuting for Warrington Borough Council, applied for costs of £1,900 against the defendant because he had originally elected trial by jury.
But Judge Thomas Teague dismissed her application because Spada is currently unemployed and receiving disability allowance of £80-a-week.
Instead, he ordered the defendant to pay £500 towards costs, made him subject to a 12-month community order, placed him under supervision for the same period and ordered him to attend a programme for persistent offenders.
Ms Wood told the court Spada had correctly claimed housing benefit at the Lymm address until he moved to Italy in October 2005.
He failed to notify the council he had moved and was not discovered for nine months.
Simon Leong, defending, said Spada had tried to contact the council twice from Italy, but both times was left in a phone queue, lost patience and hung up.
He had to care for a sick relative in Italy and had recently had a heart by-pass operation himself, leaving him out of work.
Despite having a personal debt of £17,000 he had re-paid £140 of the money he owed.
Judge Teague told the defendant: “This was not premeditated in any way. You did make two half-hearted attempts to contact the authorities. I do not think this case crosses the custody threshold.”
