Benefits cheat’s £40k fraud

A BENEFITS cheat described as “calculating and manipulative” has been jailed after claiming more than £40,000 illegally after her children were taken into care.

Jane Clark, 42, was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court yesterday after pleading guilty to three counts of benefit fraud on the day her trial was due to take place.

The defendant, of Cardiff, claimed a total of £43,914 that she was not entitled to, which saw her defraud the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), HMRC, and Cardiff council.

The court heard Clark had failed to notify the relevant authorities in February 2010 that two of her children had been taken into care.

In total she received £12,000 in disability living allowance as well as £3,500 in carer’s allowance and £3,000 in income support.

The claims for carer’s allowance and income support were false from the outset but claims for disability living allowance were initially valid.

Clark also claimed child tax credits in late 2011 and late 2012, which were fraudulent from the outset, which led her to illegally benefiting to the tune of £24,000.

She also pleaded guilty to illegally claiming £265 in housing benefit.

Defending, Nathalie Carter told the court her client was “not a lady of great sophistication” and had been taken advantage of by her ex-husband and other partners.

She said: “(Clark) had a difficult start in life and was abandoned at the beginning and placed in the care of her grandparents. She lacks the sophistication to make fraudulent claims from the outset without the encouragement of others.

“She was a willing participant but she does lack the sophistication. She’s rather isolated and apart from her direct family has little contact with the outside world. She has a great deal of dependence on her male partners over the last 20 years or so.

“She knows how serious this offending is and she is fearful of the sentencing options available to the court. She is vulnerable and won’t cope well in prison.”

Sentencing, Judge Michael Fitton QC said justice would only be served if Clark received an immediate custodial sentence because of the huge sum she had benefited from.

He said: “There’s more to you than simply the points that are expressed in which I am urged to show you sympathy.

“You are capable of being quite calculated and manipulative and it seems to me in denying matters to the last moment at the door of the trial you have actually undermined a great deal of what has been said by your counsel today.

“These are serious and collected offences and you’re in no position to offer payment in compensation or to do unpaid work. It can only be met by an immediate custodial term.”

Clark, of Cheddar Crescent, Llanrumney, was sentenced to a total of 34 weeks imprisonment.

Donna James, DWP senior leader for South Wales, said: “It proves that benefit fraud is a crime and people who do commit this crime will get caught.”