200 hours community service for claims made between 2016 and 2018
A Ramsey woman who wrongly claimed more than £21,000 in benefits was caught by staff investigating another alleged fraudster nearby.
Barbara Anne Coney of Close Ollay appeared before magistrates at Douglas courthouse.
At a previous hearing she’d admitted a total of seven charges of making false representations to obtain benefits in two claims made between May 2016 and March 2018.
Prosecution advocate Roger Kane told the court benefits officers involved in a separate surveillance operation sparked a probe into Coney when they spotted her boyfriend leaving the house each morning.
Benefits staff put Coney under surveillance and later confronted her with evidence her partner was living with her - something she hadn’t mentioned in her income support claim.
In total, she received £21,670 she wasn’t entitled to and her advocate told the hearing Coney is repaying £80 each month from her wages.
After hearing Coney had a similar benefit fraud conviction in 2010, magistrates said they’d seriously considered sending her to prison.
But after hearing she was the only carer for her two children, they ordered her to do 200 hours community service and pay £50 towards prosecution costs.
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