Mother jailed for £32k benefit fraud

A Black Country mother who pocketed more than £32,000 in benefits despite having two homes and more than £150,000 in savings has been jailed for nine months.

Mary Davies was told she had swindled the public out of a large amount of cash over a long period of time and that "only custody was justified".

Mr Jonathan Challinor, prosecuting, said the 33-year-old started off with a legitimate claim for council tax and housing benefits.

But the mother of one failed to tell the Department of Work and Pensions when she acquired a house and flat in the area and had savings in the bank, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told yesterday.

Davies, of Avon Close, Tipton, claimed £28,783 in housing benefits and £3,677 in council tax relief between March 2001 and April 2006, when she was rumbled.

The court also heard how she had £111,000 in one bank account and £38,000 in another. Mr Challinor said Davies also had a third joint account she shared with her landlord which contained around £15,000.

After her arrest, she told investigators she could not afford to pay the rent because she was on a low income.

Judge Martin Walsh said it was clear Davies had "accumulated a significant amount of money which was kept hidden".

"You were dishonest for a considerable period of time and only immediate custody is justified," he said.

Miss Siobhan Collins, defending, said the defendant was a woman of previous good character.

Miss Collins said she had now sold the two properties in a bid to get her life back on track and repay her debts.

She said Davies accepted that she deserved to go to prison.

Davies pleaded guilty to five charges of making a false claim for benefits and another of failing to notify a change in her circumstances.

She will face confiscation proceedings on her ill-gotten gains on a date to be fixed.