OVER a period of eight years, a Warrington woman cheated the benefit system to obtain more than £16,000 to which she was not entitled, a court has been told.
Tracey Skelton, 33, failed to let the borough council know her partner was living with her.
As a result she was overpaid £14,162 housing benefit and £2,348 council tax benefit – a total of £16,510.
Skelton, formerly of Cleveland Road, Orford pleaded guilty to seven offences of benefit fraud at Warrington Crown Court and was given a six week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, subject to two conditions.
There were that she complete 200 hours of unpaid work and also observe a six month curfew on Saturdays and Sundays between 7pm and 7am.
The court was told the offences arose from false claims Skelton made between August 1997 and June 2005.
After the hearing, Adrian Webster, the council’s benefits manager, said: “Deliberately withholding information that affects your claim is stealing. That’s why we are targeting benefit thieves.”
Warrington Borough Council hopes to recover the overpayment through the Proceeds of Crime Act and a hearing has been scheduled at Warrington Crown Court later this year.
OVER a period of eight years, a Warrington woman cheated the benefit
system to obtain more than £16,000 to which she was not entitled, a
court has been told.
Woman obtained £16,000 benefits
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
