Mother is jailed over benefit fraud
A mother who inherited more than £50,000 but claimed around the same amount in benefits is today behind bars.
A mother who inherited more than £50,000 but claimed around the same amount in benefits is today behind bars.
Housing care worker Tracie Colton was jailed for nine months for two charges of failing to tell authorities of her sudden windfall.
The mother-of-five and grandmother-of-one claimed £36,072.79 in income support and £14,692.61 in housing and council tax benefits between September 2002 and June 2006, a court heard.
Relatives had preyed on Colton, aged 39, of Wye Close, Perton, Wolverhampton, "to bleed her dry," the court heard.
A joint investigation by the Department for Work and Pensions with South Staffordshire Council revealed Colton received an inheritance payout of £50,399 when her own grandmother died. She swiftly opened a second bank account in July 2002, but just seven months after depositing the money in September 2002, the entire sum had been frittered away on goods including a new car and a caravan.
Mr Andrew Davidson, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court, sitting at The Waterfront, Brierley Hill, how Colton was a woman of good character who began claiming legitimately in May 2001.
He said: "She should have declared her inheritance but she carried on claiming benefits."
Mr Scott Coughtrie, defending, said members of her family had preyed on vulnerable Colton and "bled her dry". He said her former partner Peter Moore had turned up day after day asking for money, and her aunt had also begged for £5,000 and £6,000 to buy a caravan.
Sentencing Colton to two concurrent nine-month jail terms, Recorder Mr Stephen Thomas, said: "This was a deliberate course of dishonesty.
"The money you wrongly claimed was money from taxpayers and hard-working people."
Senior fraud investigator for the Department for Work and Pensions, Colin Mitchell, said he was pleased with the sentence.
He said: "Benefit thieves have to understand that they will not get away with it.
"We take crimes such as being committed by Mrs Colton very seriously. Those who wish to steal from fellow members of the public will find we will take action in every case that is reported to us."
"We work together closely with local authorities and have a range of powers with which to investigate crimes against benefit fraud."
Deputy leader of direct services at South Staffordshire Council, Councillor Roy Wright, said: "We are pleased with the outcome.
"It shows that our zero tolerance policy on benefit fraud is working and I hope it will make those who look to abuse the system think twice."
Frankie Cartwright, Director of Revenue and Customer Services at the Council added: "Our Benefit Fraud Investigation team is working tirelessly to identify those who cheat the system."