A 41-year-old woman from Arnold has received a sentence of 100 hours of unpaid community service and must repay £11,181.35 of benefits she falsely claimed from Gedling Borough Council.
Caroline Redmile, 41, of Mellors Road pleaded guilty to three offences; one of failing to declare a change in her circumstances which she knew would affect her benefit, and two of providing forms to the council she knew to be false, when appearing at Nottingham Magitsrates’ Court on Wednesday, August 12.
Mrs Redmile had signed declarations agreeing to tell the council about changes in her circumstances and that the information she provided to the council was correct and complete. However, the court heard that she had not declared that from February 2010 her partner, who was in paid employment, had been living with her.
Mrs Redmile’s actions resulted in an overpayment of £9,816.24 in Housing Benefit and £1,365.11 in Council Tax Benefit.
She was sentenced to a community order of 12 months with an unpaid work requirement of 100 hours, ordered to pay £330 prosecution costs and a £60 victim surcharge. The total civil debt of £11,181.35 must also be repaid in full.
