A dad who invented fictitious blind children to bolster benefits payments did so to pay off a drug debt.
Colin Taylor did have two real-life children but conned the Department of Work and Pensions by making up additional ones – and even claiming they were disabled.
Between February 3 2018 and April 3 2019, while living in Inverness, the 34-year-old fraudulently obtained more than £4,000 by taking advantage of the system designed to help those in need.
Taylor, who started to make repayments through deduction from ongoing benefits claims, previously pled guilty to three charges under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 of knowingly making false representations in benefit claims.
‘Erode public confidence in our system of benefits’
Sentence had been deferred for reports at that hearing, and now he has returned to the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court to learn his fate.
Defence agent David Sutherland said his client had built up a drug debt and gave those he owed money to access to his benefits account online.
He said: “He gave them the details to log in and they then logged in and created the fictitious details.”
The court heard that Taylor does have two children, although neither are disabled and only one occasionally stays with him.
Sheriff Lesley Johnston told Taylor, now of Great Western Road, Aberdeen: “By your actions in fraudulently claiming benefit payments to which you were not entitled over a prolonged period to pay off a drug debt, you have depleted public funds in short supply for those in need.”
She warned the offence could also “erode public confidence in our system of benefits”.
The sheriff made clear that the offence “easily” met the threshold for a custodial sentence but also noted a “positive” social work report and steps taken to address his issues with drink and drugs.
As a direct alternative to custody, she imposed a compensation order for the outstanding amount Taylor still owed – £1,720.
She also imposed 200 hours of unpaid work and a year’s supervision.
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