Benefits cheat conned £10,000 by changing child’s surname

A woman who changed a child’s name to con the benefits agency out of £10,000 said she would pay the cash back in 40 years’ time.

Cherie Williamson, 43, narrowly avoided being sent to prison yesterday after a sheriff berated her for her attitude towards the offence.

Sheriff Gillian Wade told her: “Your attitude to your offending is very unimpressive. You did not display any remorse whatsoever.

“Very little has impressed me. She doesn’t seem to think she has done anything wrong, but she must have had a very good idea what she was doing.

“She has benefited from getting £10,000 and has not paid a penny back. Did she simply think she could take £10,000 of other people’s money and get off with it?”

Williamson, of Andrew Heiton Court in Perth, admitted conning £10,000 of housing benefits between March 19 2012 and May 29 2016.

Defending solicitor Cliff Culley told Perth Sheriff Court: “To pay it back at £5 per week would take 40 years.

“I am hopeful the court can deal with it other than by a custodial sentence. She is working full-time, six days a week. She has no previous convictions.”

The court was told that a child, who had been present in the house while she claimed benefits, had been given one surname for attending school.

However, she had given him a different surname on claims forms and had been getting paid around £200 per month in benefits she was not entitled to.

Sheriff Wade ordered Williamson to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work and placed her under social work supervision for 12 months.