Bognor woman guilty of benefit fraud worth £17,000

Sherry Bell (48), of Hampshire Avenue, was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, by Chichester magistrates last Wednesday.

She had previously pleaded guilty to three charges of benefit fraud which led to her being overpaid 17,256 in housing and council tax benefits.

As part of her sentence, Mrs Bell has been ordered to complete 240 hours of community work within the next year.

Arun District Council, which brought the prosecution, was awarded full costs of 755.47. Mrs Bell will also have to pay back all the overpayments.

Mrs Bell had been claiming the benefits between January, 2004 and July, 2007 by saying she was jobless and relied on income support.

During an interview under caution, it was established she had failed to declare the fact she been working as an assistant manager in a local store.

Cllr Paul Dendle, in charge of Arun's finance and central services, said: "We take a very dim view of benefit fraud and will take whatever action necessary to protect public money.

"This criminal conviction clearly demonstrates to anyone who may be

thinking of trying to defraud the public that they will not get away with it."

Council investigation and visits manager Chris Corker said: "We seek to recover all overpaid benefits which are obtained by deception and, since April, 2008, we have now successfully prosecuted 23 cases.

"We have also cautioned or applied penalties to a further 62 cases,

demonstrating that this kind of dishonesty does not go unpunished."

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