Shame of Nolan sister as she is accused of £12k benefits fraud
Singer says it was ‘simple mistake’
SINGER and Celebrity Big Brother star Linda Nolan is being prosecuted for benefit fraud. But she insisted yesterday she was not a ‘scrounger, a liar, a thief or a cheat’.
The Irish singer will appear in court after a ‘stupid mistake’ l ed to her owing £12,000.
However, Ms Nolan, 56, insisted the wrongful claims were just a ‘ simple mistake’ and apologised. She had claimed benefits for more than a year, despite being paid for occasional work.
Ms Nolan, who was a charttopper with girl group The Nolans in 1980, failed to declare income from television appearances and a local newspaper column because she did not realise they counted as a ‘change of circumstances’.
She agreed to repay the money when investigators said she had broken the rules – and thought her case was closed.
But last week she received a court summons to Blackpool Magistrates’ Court for failing to disclose her earnings, and for overpayment of housing and council tax benefits between April 2012 and December 2013.
She told the Sunday Mirror: ‘I’ve been an idiot, so call me ignorant and call me stupid – but please don’t call me dishonest. I want people to know it wasn’t intentional. I feel embarrassed and ashamed.
‘I f eel embarrassed and ashamed. But I’m not a benefits scrounger, a liar, a thief or a cheat. I’ve made a simple mistake, that’s all that it is – and I’m devastated about it.
‘I just want to hold my hands up and say I am sorry. I’ve already started to pay it back. I will pay it back in full.’
Ms Nolan first claimed benefits in 2008, when she felt unable to return to the stage after the death of her husband of 27 years.
She became aware that she was being investigated by her local council for the overpayment of benefits last May. Ms Nolan received a letter entitled ‘Benefit Fraud’, and was interviewed twice last June, including once under caution – where anything she said could be used as evidence in court.
She said: ‘I’m paying them back at the moment so I don’t understand why I am being taken to court. Maybe they think I’m a criminal but I wasn’t intentionally.’
She added that she had informed the Department for Work and Pensions of her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother in January last year and when she j oined The Nolans on a 2009 reunion tour.
After forming in 1974, the six Nolan sisters – Anne, Denise, Maureen, Linda, Bernie and Coleen – went on to have worldwide success in the Seventies and Eighties.
However, they have since faced mixed financial success as well as family tragedy – including the loss of sister Bernie to cancer in 2013.
Ms Nolan, who is due in court later this month, added that her current life does not reflect her success. ‘I’m not off on holiday in Barbados and drinking champagne. I live in rented accommodation because times have been tough.’
‘Times have been tough’