Mother of six fiddled £32k benefits
A Black Country mother of six who illegally pocketed £32,000 in benefits has been spared a stint behind bars.
A Black Country mother of six who illegally pocketed £32,000 in benefits has been spared a stint behind bars.
Merrylyn Jones, aged 29, failed to tell authorities she had married her Iraqi boyfriend, who was bringing money into the family home through his job in a chicken processing plant. At Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday, Jones, of Gregory Court, Lakefield Road, Wednesfield, was given a 12-month community order.
Mr Andrew Davidson, prosecuting, said Jones started claiming income support and housing and council tax benefits legitimately in June 2002. In October 2003, she married Mohammed Ahmed, the father of five of her children, and did not tell the authorities, the court was told.
Unemployed Jones, whose children's ages range from one to nine, lives in a two-bedroom flat with her children and husband.
Mr Mohammed Latif, defending, said she had spent the cash on essentials and was not living an extravagant lifestyle. "She has a difficult marriage. It is an unstable relationship, with her husband leaving for days on end and her not knowing where he is.
"She sponsored and supported her husband to get indefinite leave from Iraq, but he gives her little financial income.
"This is a woman in difficult circumstances who is still standing by her husband, who has not seen the error of his ways.
"Just last week, he argued with her and told her and the children to leave the house. She is now living in even worse conditions than she was before. She and the children are living in cramped conditions with her father."
Jones, who was in tears in the dock, pleaded guilty to failure to notify change of circumstances.
The case followed an anonymous tip-off to the Department for Work and Pensions .
Judge Anjad Nawaz said: "The money was used for living purposes rather than an extravagant lifestyle – you found yourself in a corner. The seriousness of this crime is that it is public money. You are a responsible mother of young children and, in my judgment, what you need is help rather than being sent to prison. A community order will give you help, someone to talk to and a shoulder to cry on."
In the last year, 720 people in Wolverhampton have been investigated for alleged benefits fraud. Last week, a report was published by the Centre for Policy Studies recommending that the benefits system be made simpler by merging it with the tax credits system. The report said the current system is more open to abuse.
In other recent cases, a benefits cheat from Dudley was jailed for 18 months for fraudulently claiming more than £31,000.
Mark Beese, 57, of Collindale Court, Kingswinford, wrongly claimed council tax benefit and job seekers' allowance between December 2002 and June 2007. He was given a nine-month prison sentence.
