Probation officer threatened with jail after benefits fraud

A PROBATION officer pocketed £7,000 in benefits after failing to tell authorities that she was in work.

Tara Gale, 38, wrongly claimed Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit for a year by not declaring she was in paid employment.

Judge Neil Bidder QC warned her she could go to prison for her offending.

Cardiff Crown Court heard she committed benefit fraud between February 2015 and February 2016.

Nuhu Gobir, prosecuting, said she dishonestly intended to make a gain for herself by failing to disclose her circumstances.

The court heard she applied to the Department for Work and Pensions in February 2015 for Employment and Support Allowance.

Prosecutors said that claim was made on the basis she was unable to work due to ill health, single and had no income or savings. They argued it was fraudulent from the outset.

Gale stated she had not done it intentionally and told them she had problems with her memory.

The court heard she fraudulently claimed a total of £7,351.70 from the Department for Work and Pensions and Bridgend council. Prosecutors said she had no previous convictions, but a caution for shoplifting in 2016.

Judge Bidder asked if any of the money had been paid back and he replied: “Not as far as the prosecution know.”

Gale, from Cefn Glas Road in Bridgend, pleaded not guilty to two counts of benefit fraud at a hearing in December last year, but changed her pleas in April.

The judge noted there was evidence she may have “underlying mental health problems”.

He said he would take the unusual step of deferring sentence for 20 weeks. In that time, she must engage with mental health services and make arrangements with the Department for Work and Pensions to make regular re-payments.

Judge Bidder said: “If she complies to the letter with these requirements, I would expect not to send her to prison immediately at the end of the deferment period. If she does not, she can expect to go to prison. It is as simple as that.”

She was granted bail until her next appearance on October 4.