A north-east fraudster who has repeatedly deceived the courts has had her sentence delayed, after her fourth solicitor resigned.
Cheryl Mitchell previously admitted swindling more than £10,000 from Aberdeenshire Council and the Department for Work and Pensions.
The 33-year-old, whose address in court papers was HMP Grampian, was first charged with the offences more than two years ago.
Since then, three solicitors representing the pharmacy assist have resigned and she has told the court she would represent herself.
During different callings of the case the court heard she was unable to attend as she was on holiday, working offshore or had been involved in a car crash.
The Crown agreed on many occasions to allow the case to continue until she was available, but when a sheriff discovered the crash she claimed had happened the night before her scheduled appearance had actually occurred three weeks earlier, he granted a warrant for her arrest.
Earlier this month Mitchell, of Aboyne, admitted she had fraudulently claimed £10,500 in income support, housing benefit and council tax benefits between November 18, 2010 and April 4, 2013 at addresses in Inverurie and Oldmeldrum.
Yesterday, Mitchell appeared for sentencing at Aberdeen Sheriff Court without legal representation, after her most recent defence agent, solicitor-advocate Ian Woodward-Nutt, resigned.
She told Sheriff Alison Stirling that she had since made attempts to hire legal representation.
She said: “I’m really doing everything I can to get a solicitor, it’s been really hard for me to get a solicitor in the jail – I have tried very, very hard.”
Mitchell claimed Mr Woodward-Nutt had withdrawn after she did not pay him on time.
But she also claimed she had been told by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau that she was entitled to legal aid.
However, Sheriff Stirling said both of these claims were “contradictory”.
She deferred sentence until September 30 to allow Mitchell to find a solicitor.