Benefits cheats claimed for kids in care

Published Date: 23 October 2009
By Jessica Forster
A mum conned thousands of pounds out of taxpayers by continuing to cash Giros for her children's upkeep after they were taken into care.
The 25-year-old – who can't be named for legal reasons – cheated the benefits system out of more than £11,000 by failing to declare that her sons no longer lived with her.She has been ordered to repay the cash she claimed over 18 months – but it will take her almost five and a half years to clear the debt.The mum, from Sunderland, admitted fraud when she appeared before the city's magistrates yesterday.The court heard her young children had been taken into social services care in January 2006.Paul Heron, prosecuting for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), said she continued to collect child benefit payments until September 2007.The mother, who has previous convictions, admitted ignoring several letters from the DWP after her children were taken into care.She was ordered to pay back the money at a rate of £40 a fortnight by city magistrates, but it will take her years to clear the debt.Bill Scanlan, defending, said his client never accepted losing her sons, who were fostered before potential adoptive parents were found.He told the court the woman had been the victim of "horrendous domestic violence" which has left her terrified of groups of people, especially men – and urged magistrates not to sentence her to unpaid community work for her crime.Mr Scanlan said the woman had been treated for depression and had taken her child care case to the Court of Appeal in London.Magistrates agreed ordering her to serve a community order would be setting her up to fail and instead ordered her to be tagged and put on a three-month curfew from 7am until 7pm, with a 12 month supervision order.They also cleared £482 in court fines, which she has not paid since April.The chairman of the bench said: "We are going to give you a clean slate in light of the hard circumstances you have had to deal with over the last few years."You do not owe the court anything, but you must continue to pay the DWP."The woman is still entitled to some of the benefits she received.