A Melksham woman who unlawfully took £16,000 of taxpayer money faces a prison sentence.
At Swindon Magistrates’ Court, 34-year-old Amy Brown pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of a change of circumstances.
Prosecutor Asha Seenauth said the defendant had been paid more than £16,000 in housing benefit and income support between January 2018 and August 2019.
She said Brown, of Hawthorn Road, was not entitled to the money because she had moved her partner, Joseph Scott, into her home – but failed to inform the government.
Ms Seenauth was sure to make clear that the claim – which opened in 2007 – was not fraudulent from the outset. She added that Brown was a single mother with three children at the time.
Liz Highams, defending, asked for a pre-sentence report (PSR). She told of how her client had been paying the money back since the was spoken to by the DWP three years ago.
Chief magistrate Martin Clarke adjourned the case for a PSR to be compiled, telling Brown that she had “taken right steps to sort this out”. She will return for sentencing on 22 September.
According to the Sentencing Council, benefit fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of ten years – but that’s usually for the most serious cases. In this case, the sentencing range is likely to be from a community order to a short prison sentence, which could be suspended.
