A benefits cheat who falsely claimed more than £10,000 from the “public purse” has been spared jail.
Lawrence Campbell, of Tillyfour Court, Alford, continued to claim significantly more money than he was entitled to for more than two years.
The 54-year-old appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday, after he admitted fraudulently claiming £10,070 in employment benefits at a previous hearing.
The court heard Campbell had failed to inform the Department of Work and Pensions he had increased his hours at the Richmond Fellowship in Alford and received more allowance than he was entitled to.
Defence agent Gary Sturrock told the court that Campbell was on a zero hours contract at the time of the offence.
He said Campbell had been under pressure by his employer to take on a greater number of hours and had mistakenly failed to inform the DWP of his increase in hours, which had subsequently got out of hand.
Mr Sturrock told the court Campbell had no previous convictions and argued this was not a case of someone working full-time hours and deliberately continuing to claim benefits.
He did acknowledge that the sum of money Campbell owed was significant, but added his client had already made efforts to pay it back.
Mr Sturrock said Campbell was in poor physical health and was currently unemployed.
He urged the court to consider an alternative to prison and stated his client would benefit from unpaid work.
Sheriff Malcolm Garden told Campbell his crime was a “significant fraud on the public purse”.
He added: “I have to say I am not entirely convinced by your explanation, these kinds of mistakes are more easily made when there is a smaller sum involved.
“This is a significant and sustained series of errors, but you have made some efforts to repay. I’m satisfied that this does not require me to impose a custodial sentence.”
Sheriff Garden ordered Campbell to complete 220 hours of unpaid work in 12 months, and also placed him under supervision for the same period.
