A 37-year-old woman claimed benefit while working as an escort, magistrates heard at Warrington.
Deborah Wills, of Sheerwater Close, Bruche received benefit totalling £7,339.32 she was not entitled to, the court was told.
The
money consisted of housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support and was paid to her between October 2007 and August last year.
But she was working as an escort on a self-employed basis and failed to declare her earnings from the work to the council and the Department for Work and Pensions.
Wills pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining housing and council tax benefit, contrary to the Social Security Administration Act 1992.
She was sentenced to 120 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £150 costs.
After the hearing, Adrian Webster, the borough council’s benefits manager, said: “Benefit cheats are not just defrauding the government, but their own tax paying neighbours and communities. With the new methods of data matching we are using, the obvious message to benefit cheats is – ‘you will be caught’.”
