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Probation for woman who wrongly claimed £1k in benefits

Offence aggravated by previous conviction

An Onchan woman who claimed more than £1,000 in benefits she wasn’t entitled to had ‘a number of opportunities’ to come clean.

Jessica Lynn Cracknell, of Ballachrink Drive, admitted two offences of benefit fraud at Douglas Courthouse this week.

The 33-year-old failed to inform Treasury that she had returned to work after a period of sickness and continued to claim Income Support between 13 March and 30 May last year.

It meant she was overpaid £1,522 – money which she has since paid back.

Cracknell’s advocate noted that the claim wasn’t fraudulent from the outset adding that his client wanted to ‘get the matter dealt with and move on with her life.’  

The court heard the offence was aggravated by a previous conviction for benefit fraud in 2020 when she wrongly claimed more than £32,000.

High Bailiff Jayne Hughes imposed a 12-month probation order, and instructed Cracknell to pay prosecution costs of £125, telling her whilst it was a ‘relatively small overpayment’ it was ‘not an insignificant one’.

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