Benefits fiddling mother is jailed

A mother-of-four from the Black Country has been jailed for 10 months after fraudulently claiming more than £30,000 in benefits.

Christine Evans, aged 54, of Stephens Road, West Bromwich, claimed to be a single parent but failed to tell the authorities that her Turkish lorry driver partner was living with her.

She admitted one count of failing to declare a change in circumstances between May 2000 and April 2008. and one count of fraud between May 2008 and April 2009.

Wolverhampton Crown Court, sitting in Brierley Hill, heard that Evans was receiving income support and housing benefit.

Judge Nicholas Webb said: "This is a fraud on the taxpayer.

"It is also cheating members of the public who are paying their taxes or properly claiming the benefit they are entitled to."

Evans had been in a relationship with Zatto Lallar since 1997, and records showed he was registered as living in the same house.

Due to his work, Mr Lallar would be away from home for long periods and would often go back to Turkey, said Mr Gurdeep Garcha, prosecuting.

But Mr Trevor Meegan, defending, said that Evans had been "living in fear" of her partner, who would regularly beat her.

From 1997 to 2000 Evans stopped claiming income support while Mr Lallar was living with her regularly.

But in 2000 she made a fresh claim.

Mr Meegan said Evans, had "relatively low intelligence" and did not realise she was breaking the law.