BENEFIT FRAUD SENTENCE

A Ramsgate man has been given a 12 month suspended prison sentence, after pleading guilty to benefit fraud charges that led to overpayments of more than £35,000.

Wayne Curry (35) from Broad Street was in receipt of Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Income Support on the basis that he was a single person on a low income with a child. In his applications for benefit, he failed to declare that his partner had actually been living with him for four years.

In an interview, under caution, he initially denied living together with his partner. Later, he then admitted it and he stated it was always on his mind and he wanted to do things right.

As a result, he received Housing Benefit overpayments of £14,881.48, Income Support overpayments of £20,619 and an overpayment of £2,475.08 for Council Tax Benefit.

Mr. Curry was prosecuted in a joint case between Thanet District Council and the Department of Work and Pensions. He pleaded guilty at Canterbury Crown Court to all charges and was sentenced on Monday 15 March.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for two years and 100 hours community service. He was also ordered to pay £5,000 compensation and was given a six month curfew order. During this time, he will be electronically tagged and will not be able to not leave his home between 9pm and 6am.

Mr Recorder Tomlinson, who sentenced Mr. Curry, said he was “close to going to prison” and that “when defrauding government bodies over a long time, can expect to go straight to prison.”

He continued to say that he placed the restriction on Mr. Curry's liberty to show how close he was to a custodial sentence by imposing the curfew order of the electronic tagging and not being able to leave his home between the hours of 9pm to 6am.