Benefits cheat told to pay back almost £2,500

Fines of £1,500 must also be paid

A Douglas woman’s been ordered to repay all the money she fraudulently claimed in benefits, as well as fines totalling £1,500.

Forty-three-year-old Joanne Louise Hall of Woodbourne Road appeared before High Bailiff Jayne Hughes at Douglas courthouse.

She pleaded guilty to three charges of making false representations to obtain benefits.

Prosecution advocate Chrissie Hunt told the hearing Hall had claimed £793 in benefits on three occasions, each time saying she hadn’t worked.

However, benefits officers checked and discovered she hadn’t declared her job at a nursing home – or more than £4,800 in earnings in December 2019 and January this year.

She was interviewed by benefits staff and admitted she’d lied.

The court heard in total she’d been overpaid £2,479, which she’d agreed to pay back at the rate of £20 per week.

After hearing Hall had since lost her job, Mrs Hughes ordered her to pay £1,500 in fines and £50 in prosecution costs at the rate of £10 per week from her benefits.