Shropshire widow in £7,000 benefits fraud
A Shropshire widow who fraudulently claimed thousands of pounds in benefits over a seven-year period admitted she had "buried her head in the sand" when she appeared in court.
Jennifer Davies, of Watergate Street, Ellesmere, claimed over £7,000 worth of pension credit she was not entitled to between May 2007 and February 2014.
The 70-year-old had been claiming the benefit after her husband died and her savings had run out, but failed to tell the relevant authorities when she had started work at the Black Lion Hotel in Ellesmere on April 30, 2007.
At Shrewsbury Magistrates Court yesterday.Davies, pleaded guilty to two charges of failing to notify Shropshire Council and the Department for Work and Pensions about changes to her circumstances affecting her entitlement to both pension credit and council tax benefit a
The court heard that she wrongly received a total of £7,574.57 over payment of pension credit and £513.29 over payment of council tax benefit.
Elzbeth Kenny, representing Davies, said her client had a strong work ethic and had been married for 24 years to a welder.
She said: "When her husband passed away she struggled financially and used all her savings to pay her household bills and then rightly applied for pension credit.
"A few months later she started a job at the Black Lion Hotel and did not know that she had to inform anyone.
"She kept all the warning letters she was sent in a neat pile, in perfect condition, stored away. She did not open or read the letters from Shropshire Council or the Department of Work and Pensions.
"She buried her head in the sand. She does not have an extravagant lifestyle and realises her ignorance and stupidity for ignoring the warning letters."
Davies was given a conditional discharge for two years and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15.
