Man falsely claimed £34,000

A 59-year-old man who falsely claimed more than £34,000 in benefits from Warrington borough council and the Department for Work and Pensions has been ordered to repay all the money.
Lawrence Hughes, of Birdwell Drive, Great Sankey, Warrington, Hughes was also given a 52-week jail sentence, suspended for two years, ordered to do 80 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £500 costs when he appeared at Warrington Crown Court.
He had pleaded guilty to three counts of benefit fraud at an earlier hearing.
The court was told that between October 2005 and November 2006 he failed to notify the council or DWP about changes in his circumstances including not declaring self employment, his partner’s employment and other sources of money.
He falsely claimed £5,417 in housing benefit and £2,719 council tax benefit from the council and £26,283 in income support from the DWP.
After the hearing, Adrian Webster, the council’s benefits manager, said: “It is important to remember that these are not victimless crimes. They are depriving services in Warrington of much needed money and resources. Anyone tempted to steal benefit should realise that councils have sophisticated methods of detecting fraud”.
Fraud operations manager for the DWP Roy Paul added: “The public is fed up with cheats who steal money from the taxpayer when it should go to those in genuine need of help.”