A mother of four who fraudulently claimed nearly £50,000 in benefits over five years has been jailed.
Karen Thom, 42, received income support of £49,561.34 she was not entitled to by pretending she was a single mother, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard yesterday.
She lied to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) by saying she had separated from her husband Ian Thom, who was in fact still living in their Rothienorman home and working full time.
Thom, of Cottage 4, Jackstown, Rothienorman, was jailed yesterday for a year after pleading guilty to fraudulently receiving the money between February 11, 2003, and December 27, 2007.
Fiscal depute Elaine Lynch told the court Thom had told the DWP she had separated from her husband in October 2002 and her only income was child benefit.
Thom received annual letters reminding her to notify the government department of changes to her circumstances, but failed to do so.
The fraud was discovered when an “internal government matching system” identified that Mr Thom was still living at the Rothienorman address in August 2008.
By March of this year, Thom had repaid only £280 and is now making repayments of £19.50 a fortnight, said the fiscal depute.
Defence agent David Sutherland said the repayments were “woefully inadequate” to cover the amount claimed.
He said his client married her husband in 1993 and they separated in 2002 but had renewed the relationship.
Thom suffered verbal and physical abuse at the hands of her husband, who she is separated from again, and he spent much of her benefits on drink, said Mr Sutherland.
“She is a single parent aged 42 with incredible low confidence and self-esteem with little regard for her own well-being,” he said.
Sheriff James Tierney said: “You have, over a consistent period, defrauded the public purse of a very large sum of money.
“You did this notwithstanding the fact that annually you were given the opportunity to declare the truth.”
Sentencing her to a year in prison, he said the jail term would show people tempted to fraudulently claim benefits that it would be dealt with seriously by the courts.