A disgraced ex-care home manager, who pocketed over £30,000 in benefits by lying she was a single-mum in a "parasitic" scam, has dodged a return to prison with a suspended sentence.
Housekeper Christine Constant, 46, (pictured) of Dunsfield Way, New Addington was exposed by an undercover council operation, which proved her husband, engineer Wayne, was still part of the family.
Mum-of-two Constant, who received twelve months' imprisonment in 2005 on five counts of theft from her former care home employers, began claiming benefits soon after her release.
She pleaded guilty to failing to inform Croydon Council of a change of circumstances between September 3, 2007 and November 15, 2009 in relation to her claims for housing and council tax benefit.
She also similarly pleaded guilty to failing to inform the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) between August 28, 2007 and November 10, 2009 in relation to an income support claim.
Constant defrauded £21,893 in housing benefit, £2,408 in council tax benefit and £6,932 in income support.
"Several families must have worked their fingers to the bone while you were living off them," Recorder William Featherby told Constant. "It's greed at the public expense.
"Your greed has again caught up with you. You are parasitic on them, it's quite disgraceful."
Prosecutor Miss Ini Udom told the court the defendant began claiming in March, 2006 as a single-mum with no savings.
However, she did not tell the council or the DWP her husband, who works full-time and nets £1500 per month, was living with her as a member of the family.
The council had conducted a surveillance operation and identified the husband's van parked outside the family home. He was also registered with the local G.P. and the couple shared financial ties.
Constant was quizzed on March 24, 2010.
"She denied the allegations and said her husband was of no fixed address and only stayed with her once or twice a week," added Miss Udom.
"She said his van was parked outside on occasions because he was a drinker and did not want to drive."
The following month Constant declared she was living with her husband.
She now nets £1100 per month as a housekeeper.
"This was a substantial amount of fraud," added Recorder Weatherby, sentencing Constant to four months imprisonment, suspended for twelve months, plus twelve months probation supervision.
The defendant was also ordered to pay £5,000 compensation to Croydon Council within twelve months or serve three months imprisonment.
"This lady needs to work hard to pay off the debt," concluded the Recorder.
5 comments:
this is the woman that looked down on genuine single mothers that had no choice but to claim single benefit and was full time mothers and had the cheek to call my children troublemakers we were living near a thef and a fraud and I had to enjore years of abuse from this woman and her family.
Shame you have to be anonymous,
Realy, every one in that block including you was doing it,time for me to name and shame...
Dear "anonymous",
We kept our family to ourselves, if I remeber rightly we weren't the ones leaving dirty nappies all over the stairwells, rubbish, ripped open black bin bags, spitting on the railings.. And you've got a cheek to say we gave your family abuse when we kept ourselves to ourselves. I don't condone what my mother did however I'm 18 and work full time and pay tax for you to sit at home on your bum and do nothing. If I'm 18 and can get a full time job, why can't anybody else? I left school with about 6 GCSE's and didn't go to college and still managed to get a full time job. There's no excuse to sit at home and let people like me pick up your bills. My mother has 5 children of her own plus another 4 step children, she would never dare to abuse a child. I don't see why we are being victimsed all because we kept ourselves to OURSELVES. We did not want to socialise because that's just what we've become as custom to. Also, there was many other families in that block doing the same as we were doing which was keeping our family to ourselves. For the whole 7 years of my life living there I was surrounded by fights, a stench of weed and dirty surroundings. That's no life for a child, in my opinion.
We've all made mistakes in the past which I'm sure you have aswell, my mother did what she did to keep me and my brother fed and clothed. Which is what family does, I'm sure anybody else would do the same for their kids.
The fact of this case are incorrect, it was not 2005 so this is not factual but an incorrect version think reporter did not do his homework, like the residents
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