Woman accused of £65k benefits fraud was 'set up by boss'
A woman accused of swindling more than £65,000 in disability benefits whilst living an active life, including snorkelling, was ‘set up’ by her old boss, a court heard.
Linda Hoey is on trial for exaggerating about her physical problems to the Department of Work and Pensions allowing her to illegally dodge thousands of pounds worth of fees on the M6 Toll, which she used to get to work in Cannock.
During the third day of her trial at Stafford Crown Court, the jury were shown body worn camera footage from officers who attended the 59-year-old’s Staffordshire home on the morning of February 24 last year to arrest her.
On the video, her husband Michael Hoey appeared angry at the level of police presence whilst claiming his wife had been set up.
He said: “I am disgusted at the amount of people that’s come for a 56-year-old woman. You’ve come here like a riot squad.
“My wife has been through a lot in the last few years and this is a bit of a set up we think.”
He added: “We think it is her ex-boss making an accusation. It went to tribunal. We just knew there would be some sort of repercussion. He’s very, very vindictive.”
Mr Hoey also reacted angrily to the fact one of the five officers present commented that his wife could walk up the stairs ‘unaided’ to which he responded: “What are you implying?”
Pc Estelle Webb, who conducted the arrest, told the court after knocking the door she witnessed Mrs Hoey move ‘sprightly’ down the stairs before answering the door whilst saying she later took less than two minutes to change her trousers.
The trial has previously heard recent pictures recovered at the home showed Mrs Hoey on holiday, sitting in a hammock with her arms above her head, leaning on her knees whilst altering a wedding dress and bent over a snooker table.
While her colleagues at Partsworld, Orbital Way, Cannock, were oblivious to any disability.
Yet the administration worker had told the DWP she could not stretch above shoulder height, bend to put on underwear or walk fur yards in four minutes.
The defendant, of Talland Avenue, Armington, Tamworth, denies misrepresenting her claim to the DWP by exaggerating her mobility and care needs between 2001 and 2015 and misusing an exemption pass for the M6 Toll Road between 2004 and 2015.
The overpayments altogether total £65,244.
The trial continues.
