'Bad back' excuse in fraud case; COURT: Woman conned pounds 26,000.Byline: By Gurdip Thandi A CONWOMAN who stole more than pounds 25,000 of taxpayers' cash has been handed a suspended sus·pend v. sus·pend·ed, sus·pend·ing, sus·pends v.tr. 1. To bar for a period from a privilege, office, or position, usually as a punishment: suspend a student from school. jail sentence jail sentence jail n → peine f de prison . Amanda Monkman claimed a total of pounds 26,782 in benefits for an alleged bad back over a five year period, despite working for seven different employers in that time. The 44-year-old, who was living in Sorrel, Amington in Tamworth at the time of the offences, was caught out when Department of Work and Pensions fraud investigators were given an anonymous tip off that she was working as a catering assistant. Monkman, now living at Yatesbury Avenue, Castle Vale Castle Vale is an area of the City of Birmingham, in England, originally created as an overspill housing estate in the 1960s. History Pre-Castle Vale The area was originally known as Berwood, from the Saxon ‘Bearu’ meaning 'the woods'. , had been claiming incapacity benefit This is a United Kingdom state benefit intended for those below the State Pension age who cannot work because of illness or disability. The benefit is administered by Jobcentre Plus (an executive agency of the Department for Work and Pensions). and then disability living allowance on the basis that she had severe back problems that on some days left her housebound house·bound adj. Confined to one's home, as by illness. politically correct Politically sensitive adjective and unable to walk. Between December 9, 2001 and October 31, 2006, she claimed pounds 15,028 incapacity benefit, housing and tax benefits totally pounds 4,053 and a total of pounds 7,701 in disability living allowance Monkman was charged under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 Section 111A with failing to declare a change in circumstances. At Stafford Crown Court she was handed a sentence of 35 weeks' imprisonment Imprisonment See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. suspended for 12 months, plus a 12 month supervision order. She was also ordered to do 120 hours' unpaid work. Anyone wishing to report a case of suspected fraud can call the National Benefit Fraud Hotline on 0800 854 440. |
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