Mother and daughter claimed £50k in disability benefits - while working at hospitals

The pair, who live in Wednesbury, both denied the offences but were found guilty after separate trials held just weeks apart.

Sandwell General Hospital staff member Wendy Perry pocketed around £28,500 in a five year long scam while her daughter Nicola Manson-Perry picked up over £20,000 in a carbon copy racket that lasted nine years before being exposed. The pair claimed they had difficulty walking.

The daughter was given a suspended jail sentence at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday and the mother will learn her fate next month. Judge Robin Onions commented: "It does not seem that either has been good for the other over this."

The 66-year-old mother received Disability Living Allowance pay outs after claiming she could barely walk. She said she had to hold onto the wall for balance to ensure she did not fall or stumble while walking to her desk from the car park at the hospital where she worked full time. She had been employed by the NHS since 1995.

Despite being a medical secretary Perry alleged that she had difficulty communicating and filling in forms. She increased the pay out by stating she needed constant care both day and night.

Meanwhile her daughter, 48-year-old Manson-Perry, with whom she lives in Warner Road, Wednesbury, was running a disability benefits fraud of her own that netted £20,404. She worked as a £22,000-a-year accounts clerk based at City Hospital, Birmingham and at one stage claimed it took her 10 minutes to walk two metres. Workmates never noticed any restriction to her mobility in the office.

The mother alleged she had a variety of medical problems while the daughter claimed to have a back condition and difficulty with her knee. It was never disputed that they had medical problems but both vastly exaggerated any resulting disability.

Department of Work and Pensions(DWP) investigators spent four days secretly filming her walking from her car to Sandwell Hospital without aids or assistance and with no obvious sign of a limp in April 2013

That month the probe was broadened to include her daughter after it was discovered that Manson-Perry had applied for a disability parking permit. Inquiries revealed she was also picking up disability living allowance.

Both women were arrested at their home by police on August 21, 2013. Each maintained that they were innocent of any benefit fraud during their respective trials but were convicted of failing to report a change in circumstances. It was not suggested that either claim was fraudulent from the outset. The case was that neither reported improvements in their condition that would have affected their right to the benefit.

Manson-Perry is married without children and her husband lives in Leeds. She started claiming the benefit after being medically assessed and has been working full time with the NHS since 2004. She could now be moved to another job in the hospital after receiving a 34 week jail sentence suspended for two years yesterday.

Judge Robin Onions told her: "At some stage your mobility significantly increased and I am satisfied you knew that. Two work colleagues said they did not notice any restriction to your mobility. At no stage did you need mobility aids as you walked from your car to the office and walked along corridors to meetings. You convinced yourself that because you had other medical problems this, in some sense, justified you in continuing in this unjustified claim.You should now discuss with your mother how you are jointly going to pay back the debt you owe to the state."

Perry owns the house in which the pair live, the court heard, but the judge warned: "They may lose it."

The Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital NHS Trust that runs both Sandwell General and City Hospitals said today: "The Trust is aware that two members of staff have been found guilty of offences related to benefit fraud. Upon their conviction both members of staff were suspended whilst formal investigations are ongoing to assess whether disciplinary action should be taken. The formal investigations are expected to conclude in March."

The DWP commented: "Benefit payments should go to those who really need them. We know it's a small minority of people who commit benefit fraud, but deliberately not informing us of a change in your condition that may affect your claim is a crime. Don't wait for our fraud investigators to find you - tell us of a change now. If you suspect someone of fraudulently claiming benefits, then call our National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440."