Leg wax benefits cheat told: Pay £17k or go to jail
A DISABILITY cheat beautician, caught out when she waxed the legs of an undercover investigator, has been told to pay back more than £17,000 or go to jail.
Tracey Carter-Lunn, 55, performed the beauty treatments and carried tea to customers at her salon, despite saying she could not work because she had nerve damage.
Her cheating was exposed after Department for Work and Pensions investigator Jess Hefford visited and Carter-Lunn used both hands to apply and remove wax strips on her legs.
A court has now demanded that Carter-Lunn pay back more than £17,000 or face a year in jail.
She was originally handed a suspended prison sentence in May for pocketing payments while capable of work.
Plymouth Crown Court heard she also carried two cups of tea to customers at her family’s salon despite saying she had nerve damage in her right arm.
A judge told her that she was “walking around as happy as Larry” while claiming a separate back injury had left her unable to walk.
Carter-Lunn, co-owner of 50 Shades of Hair & Beauty salon, in Plymouth, Devon, faced court again on Friday for a proceeds of crime hearing.
Prosecuting, Jason Beal said she had made £17,071 through her offending. He added that she had assets of £49,100 to cover the sum. Michael Green, for CarterLunn, agreed the figures but asked for three months to pay.
He said she and her husband needed time to either sell or remortgage a property. Judge Ian Lawrie ordered that she pay the £17,701 and imposed a 12-month prison sentence in default.
Carter-Lunn had admitted dishonestly failing to promptly notify a change of circumstances which she knew would affect her claim for disability living allowance.
During the hearing, investigator Jess Hefford said that Mrs Carter-Lunn used both hands to apply and remove the wax strips on her legs in July 2014.
She also told the court that Carter-Lunn carried the cups in saucers without spilling any at the salon.
Carter-Lunn at first claimed disability living allowance back in 2001 because of nerve damage to her right arm after she fell through a glass door at the age of seven.
Prosecutors told the court that the claim may have been honest, but her condition had improved.
She then started work as a healthcare assistant, performing duties such as opening and closing sample pots and sterile bags at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth.
She had earlier been handed a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and she was ordered to perform 180 hours of unpaid work.