Whitchurch benefits cheat ran eBay store

A Shropshire woman earned thousands of pounds running a business on internet auction site eBay, while claiming income support and housing and council tax benefits, a court heard.

Karen Curran, of Edgeley Road, Whitchurch, falsely claimed £20,000 in benefits between August 2006 and March 2009 after setting up eBay shop Karen's Healing Hands For You, Shrewsbury Crown Court heard yesterday.

The 34-year-old admitted falsely claiming housing and council tax benefit and falsely claiming income support.

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones sentenced Curran to eight weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, on both charges to run concurrently. She was also given a four-month curfew order, to be at her home between 8pm and 7am each day and be electronically tagged.

He told her: "You continued to claim benefits for almost three years while making a substantial earning off the internet."

Miss Balvinder Bhatti, prosecuting, said Curran had claimed income support benefit correctly since 1993, but this changed in August 2006 when she set up the eBay shop. It was at this point she also started claiming housing and council tax benefit, despite making up to £60,000 from her eBay store in the period between setting it up and when she was investigated.