Watch a scheming benefits cheat who said she was wheelchair bound WALK around Tesco
A scheming mother of two walks around a supermarket with the partner she insisted had 'died' at least 16 years earlier.
Wendy Robinson was secretly filmed on this shopping trip in the Tesco store at Burnt Tree Island, Dudley on January 31 2014.
She was receiving higher rate disability mobility allowance which meant she was virtually unable to walk and almost unable to do anything for herself.
She told officials in 1998 that her partner David Spite - the father of at least one of her daughters - had died. But he was very much alive and the couple lived together with the children while he adopted the name of her brother David Robinson.
The trickster also managed to join the gym at Wolverhampton Central Baths in Bath Road, despite her supposed disabilities. It was reported that she later made a claim for damages after alleging she had fallen off a piece its equipment. This was later withdrawn when it was discovered she had not been at the premises on the day in question.
Robinson admitted a near £100,000 ten year benefits theft and was given an 18 month jail sentence which was suspended for two years because of her ill health after she appeared at Birmingham Crown Court in a wheelchair and listed her current disabilities on oath to the judge.
A Proceeds of Crime case is now being built against her which is expected to be heard at Wolverhampton Crown Court in November.
Robinson claimed to be living in rented accommodation but she and her partner had bought a house in Hayes Street, West Bromwich on December 15 2000. The name of both were on the deeds.
Around five years later they sold that property for £78,000 and bought the one in Meldon Drive but the fraud began to unravel in 2013 when a query over her claims for council tax revealed she was part owner of a house. This sparked a wider probe by Department for Work and Pensions(DWP) investigators.
It disclosed that her 'brother' David Robinson was really David Spite, the man named on the birth certificate as the father of their youngest daughter. The father of the older girl is not identified on her birth certificate. The mortgage was in joint names and they took holidays together. Her partner was not questioned by investigators probing her benefit fraud.
Robinson, now living in Goole, East Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to: Cheating the Public Revenue out of at least £79,896 in income support and employment support between December 15, 2000 and May 23, 2014 by failing to reveal she was living with her partner
Dishonest representation to obtain council tax in housing and council tax benefit by, on or about March 20, 2011, failing to disclose she had a partner with whom she was living as husband and wife.
Cheating the Public Revenue out of at least £16,686 between March 21, 2012 and August 12, 2014 by failing to reveal her capabilities had improved.
A DWP spokesman said: "Most people claiming benefits are honest, but there are the unscrupulous minority who cheat taxpayers' money out of our welfare system and divert it away from those who really need it. People pretending to live alone to get benefits is one of the most common types of benefit fraud, and this case shows our investigators are bringing criminals to justice.
"Failure to report a change in circumstances that may affect your benefit claim, such as a partner moving in, is a crime. Small amounts of weekly overpayments build up and you could end up having to pay back tens of thousands of pounds. People must tell us if their situation changes before it's too late. If you suspect someone of fraudulently claiming benefits, then call our National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440."
