A woman who hid the fact she had a husband for five years in order to scam £80,000 in benefits by pretending she was a single mother was caught out by posting wedding pictures on social media.
Charlene Brindley, 41, lied that she a lone parent to get benefits including income support and child tax credits from 2014 to 2019.
But a court heard she had lived with her partner for five years – and the pair had married back in 2017.
She was caught after a suspicious government official found wedding pictures of her marriage in 2017 on her Facebook page.
A court heard she pocketed income support, employment support allowance, housing benefit and working and child tax credits until she was finally caught.
Department of Work and Pensions investigators estimated her overpayment during the period of her offending amounted to approximately £81,000.
Charlene Brindley, 41, lied that she a lone parent to get benefits including income support and child tax credits from 2014 to 2019
Brindley initially denied she had been living with her husband but pleaded guilty to fraud and failing to notify change of circumstance when she appeared in court.
Mold Crown Court heard it took five years between her being interviewed over the crime and the case coming to court.
John Wyn Williams, defending, said Brindley had been paying back £70-a-month since 2019 but it would take ‘decades’ to clear her debt.
He added: ‘She had the good sense to plead guilty at the earliest opportunity.
‘And she’s a vulnerable lady with her own difficulties and has gone through a difficult time.
‘She started out in 2000 working in the Army, and cared for others when she left the Army.
‘For the last five years, she has been paying the £70 a month but that is going to take a long time.
‘Regarding the delay, for this to be hanging over her for five years is unfortunate.’
Judge Timothy Petts told the court: ‘It’s staggering that she’s interviewed and the offences are put to her in 2019, and it then takes five years for her to be prosecuted for it.
‘It’s completely unacceptable. There really should have been some explanation for this other than her file sitting on someone’s desk gathering dust.
‘It’s not impressive at all.’
He told Brindley: ‘I have been given absolutely no explanation why it took five years to start court proceedings against you.
‘That’s an unfair and intolerable delay and under sentencing guidelines, I need to have regard to it.
‘The total overpayment of benefits is in the region of £81,000, which you’ve been paying back at a modest amount since.
‘Whether you will be able to repay the amount you were overpaid, I rather doubt.
‘If your only income is from benefits, it will take you well into your hundreds.
‘You had a very good career which was tragically cut short by a horrible incident and that’s clearly had a lasting impact on you.
‘This isn’t a case where you’ve been leading a lavish lifestyle; but you were taking money that wasn’t yours.’
Brindley, of Wrexham, was handed a 12 month suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work.
