A University of Huddersfield worker has escaped prison after admitting a £22,000 benefit fraud.
Kirklees magistrates said that they came ‘very close’ to jailing cleaner, Alison Barrett, following her guilty plea to three charges of dishonestly making a false statement to obtain a benefit between July 2007 and January last year.
Bench chair, Christine Mills, ordered Barrett, who lives in Curzon Street, Bradley, to undertake a 12 month activity programme of 150 hours of unpaid work in the community after failing to declare her 16-hour a week job at the university but said that her actions were an ‘insult to people who managed on minimum wage’.
Barrett, 61, claimed Jobseekers’ Allowance, housing benefit and council tax support without informing the Department of Work and Pensions about her job or notifying them about the account in which her wages were paid into, which led to over payments totalling £22,077.30.
Her claims were investigated by officers in February before she was arrested and charged.
In total, she was overpaid £11,896 in Jobseekers’ Allowance, £2,304.60 in council tax benefit and £7,876.70 in housing benefit.
Prosecutor, James Weekes, said that Barrett told investigators that she was in dire financial difficulties and had had to go without eating in order to heat her house.
He said: “When she was interviewed she became very upset and said that she couldn’t afford to both pay for heating and eat but accepted that she had failed to inform DWP that she was working.”
Her defence lawyer, Mike Sissons-Pell, said that Barrett had a long history of mental health issues, including depression and anxiety, and was only semi-literate.
He said: “The fact that she struggled with forms may explain why she did not inform them that she was working, especially as you are still entitled to some benefits if you work below 16 hours a week and she admitted her offence at the first opportunity”.
Barrett must also pay £145 in court costs and surcharge, which she will pay in £5 weekly instalments.
Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news .
Want to read, watch and hear more? You can download the FREE Examiner Apple App here , the FREE Examiner Android App here or you can view the paper as an e-edition on your Apple, Android or Kindle device by clicking here
To follow us on Twitter click here
