Mother in serious fraud case is spared jail
25 Aug 2010
A mother at the centre of a benefit fraud case has been spared a
jail sentence with the help of her
serious
fraud solicitor.
Cheryl Laughton from Benwell had told the authorities that she was
a single parent and that she did not know who the father of her
three children was.
However, she had failed to declare that she had a partner - Peter
Mirza - and that his details had been given on electoral rolls and
his taxi driving applications as being the youngsters' father. She
had instead insisted he was her landlord.
Meanwhile, she had been claiming up to GBP 24,500 each year in
housing benefits, council tax exemptions and income support.
It is thought Ms Laughton had been making fraudulent claims since
1996, but at a court hearing this month, it was only possible to
prove they had been made between February 2005 and March
2008.
Ms Laughton admitted to perpetrating the social security scam and
her serious fraud solicitor said arrangements had been made to care
for her three children should she be given a jail term.
However, the judge instead handed her a two-week suspended
sentence.
Councillor Anita Lower of Newcastle Council warned that benefit
cheats "in serious cases will be prosecuted and end up with a
criminal record".
According to the Department for Work and Pensions, an estimated GBP
900 million was taken from public funds by benefit thieves in
2008-09.
Last year, the organisation caught 232 people who had committed
this kind of serious fraud every day.
