Benefits fraudster denies court no-show
A RUNCORN man convicted of assisting his mother in one of the country’s biggest ever cases of benefits fraud has denied failing to attend court without good reason in connection with an alleged community order breach.
Christopher McGill, of Eastwood, Windmill Hill, appeared at Chester Crown Court on Monday where his defence counsel Hunter Gray asked for the case to be adjourned for McGill to seek another doctor’s appointment to gain an update on his condition, namely relating to mental health issues.
Although he had provided one letter from a family doctor, there was a second that he needed to obtain.
McGill, 29, was handed a two-year community order with 150 hours’ unpaid work on July 19 last year over two counts of acquiring criminal property.
The charges related to signing for carer’s allowance on a form that forensic handwriting analysts established was filled in by his mother Ethel Mcgill.
The forms helped to obtain bogus benefits claims totalling £27,000 over eight years and six months.
‘Untruthful and devious’ Ethel McGill, 68, of Windmill Hill, was jailed for nearly six years for scamming around £740,000 in welfare payments over 12 years after pretending her father was still alive for years after his death so she could claim his war pension, even having someone dress up as him and lie in bed to maintain the charade.
She admitted 14 counts, with the offending spanning nearly 30 years.
Dafydd Roberts appeared for the prosecution.
Judge Steven Everett, Honorary Recorder Of Chester, granted the request for an adjournment for further medical enquiries to take place.
The case was relisted for March 30.