Benefit fraudster who claimed to be single mum was spotted by Mail readers

Benefit fraudster who claimed to be single mum was spotted by Mail readers
A married woman has been convicted of benefit fraud after she appeared in the Mail claiming to be a single mother.
Cheryl Dove, 34, was married and living with her partner of four years while claiming benefits pretending to be a single parent.
She appeared in the Mail complaining Hull City Council had not collected flood-damaged furniture from her home in Cadeleigh Close, Bransholme, six months after the June 2007 flooding.
She told our reporter she was a single mother and after the story appeared, readers who knew the family complained to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
The mother-of-two pleaded guilty to benefit fraud at Hull Crown Court.
She had falsely claimed housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support between 2003 and 2007.
Dove pleaded guilty on the basis she only lived with her husband permanently for two years.
She said the total amount she falsely over-claimed was £20,148, although the DWP is seeking to recoup £37,000 in overpayments from her and is deducting this from her benefits.
Judge Simon Jack gave her an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and ordered her to undertake 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.
He said: "You have pleaded guilty to charges of failing to notify changes of circumstances in relation to obtaining benefit and I have to deal with you for fraudulently obtaining over £20,000.
" I hope you will put this behind you, do the unpaid work and that the court will not see you again."
A spokesperson for the DWPsaid: "Benefit thieves take money intended for the most vulnerable in society