SCROUNGING ALL OVER THE WORLD
Hol snaps of shameless benefits cheat Dad sponged £15k
A BENEFITS cheat who travelled the world was rumbled by his Facebook page.
Brazen Stephen Astbury was pictured skiing, jetskiing, quad-biking and snorkelling in exotic locations.
The dad-of-five had said he was too depressed and nervous to get a job because of his “split personality disorder”.
But his globetrotting came to an end when investigators found the pictures he had posted online.
They found he was working in the construction and scrap metal trade while sponging £15,000 of taxpayers’ cash.
Astbury, 32, admitted fraudulently obtaining housing and employment benefits for two years from 2013 to 2015.
But he escaped jail after telling magistrates he narrowly survived a motorway smash last month. His lawyer said there was a “90% chance” he could have lost his life. Astbury, of Blackburn, also claimed he did not know he had to tell the authorities he was working because he earned less than £100 a week.
A probation officer told Blackburn magistrates: “He has sole custody of his daughter ® and wants to give her a better life and spent the money on that.
“He was remorseful for his actions. He has five children in total with just his daughter residing in his care and has built up debts of £9,000.”
Astbury was given a 32week jail sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge.
Magistrate Irene Devine told him: “You are trying to do everything you can to get your life back on track so we are going to try to deal with this in a sympathetic way, but punish you at the same time.”