Cleaner in £44,000 false benefits claim

A cleaner falsely claimed more than £44,000 in benefits after failing to declare that she was living with her partner, a court heard.

Mother-of-two Lorraine Sullivan, of Lawrence Road, Cradley Heath, pleaded guilty to three charges.

The charges involved falsely claiming housing benefit, council tax, income support and jobseekers allowance between December 2005 and December 2009. Mr Mark Jackson, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court: "She was claiming as a single parent who was living alone.

"But in December 2005 she was living with her partner and she failed to declare the changes in her circumstances."

Mr Jackson said investigations by Sandwell Council found that her partner had used the 40-year-old's address for credit checks and to register a car with the DVLA and it was where his employer Corus believed that he lived.

Mr Jackson told the court that in total, Sullivan falsely claimed £12,777 in housing benefit, £2,557 in council tax benefit and £28,783 in income support and jobseekers allowance.

Mr Malcolm Fowler, defending, said she had not told the authorities about her change in circumstances due to her uncertainty about her relationship with her partner. He said that she did not expect the relationship to blossom into what it became.

Mr Fowler added that her partner "might have been expected, based on previous form, to remain for a short while and then be absent again".

He added that the prosecution which had been pending since December 2009 had a "dire effect" on Sullivan's health.

He said she has a severe alcohol problem and admits that she was "frittering away the income she did have for the children on alcohol".

Judge Michael Challinor said: "It was quite clear that you were not fraudulently claiming from the start.

"I am satisfied that in terms of your relationship you weren't sure whether your partner was going to stay with you."

Judge Challinor sentenced Sullivan to 26 weeks in prison suspended for 18 months. He ordered her to complete 200 hours of unpaid work and ordered her to pay £500 costs.