A tax and benefit cheat business lecturer, devoted to financing her only child's private education, dodged prison yesterday despite swindling over £5,000 in benefits while under a suspended sentence for a £156,000 VAT scam.
Single-mum Monica Bircham, 47, claimed she did not have to tell her council about extra money she illegally earned because it was in a business account and not a personal account - an excuse described by the court as: "bizarre."
The £140 per day tutor, of Abbott Court, Hartington Road, South Lambeth, whose son is 15 years-old, was exposed after the taxman investigated her "ethical" cosmetics company and also discovered she was preying on her local authority for hand-outs for two-and-a-half years.
She is listed as a lecturer on Bromley College's website and her field of knowledge includes business and cultural affairs.
On April 8, 2013 she received 18 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, for the VAT fraud, but continued her ongoing benefit swindle and was found guilty on a dozen counts.
"Your claim for benefits was dishonest from the start, " Recorder Adam Hiddleston told Bircham at Croydon Crown Court. "You lied about your income, who you were sharing your home with, how many bank accounts you had and left out information you knew you needed to declare.
"It seemed to me an entirely proper verdict on every single count and the case you put forward was bizarre.
"After you were found out to the extent you went to and your motives were obvious. You sought to hide the money so you could fund your son's education.
"All of this was done with careful thought. You are an intelligent woman, you have qualifications and are employed as a lecturer.
"You deprived Lambeth of funds, which they could have used to pay benefits to people in need who were not able to consider a private education for their children.
"Even today you maintain your innocence despite your obvious dishonesty.
"What chimes through this is your utter devotion to your son. You going to prison would have a profound effect on him and he would be another victim in this case.
"I don't see why he should suffer from your dishonesty.
"You have come very close indeed to effecting the course of his life. Your actions have nearly undone everything you have set out to do, namely give him a stable environment to be brought up in.
"Lambeth have been put to an enormous loss by your actions, not only the five thousand-odd in benefits, but prosecution costs of eight thousand pounds, which will be yet another loss."
The total loss in housing and council tax benefit was £5,337.60p.
The probation service recommended a sentence that did not result in immediate imprisonment, despite concluding in their report Bircham: "Has a propensity towards deceptive conduct."
Her lawyer Miss Karen Walton said: "She has aspirations to stand on her own two feet, but is incapable of doing so.
"Sending her to prison will punish her, but will not solve that conundrum and she will not have any support in prison and will be released back to where she is now, heavily in debt."
She fought the case, but a jury convicted her of ten counts of fraud between December 9, 2010 and July 12, 2013 consisting of telling the London Borough of Lambeth she received no money from self-employment and on three occasions gave untrue information in a Self-Employed Earning Information form.
That she was a single-mother living alone; that she had no income; that she had no more income than tax credits; that she was the only adult living at her address; that she had not received full payment for part-time lecturing work and failed to disclose income.
She was convicted on a further count of dishonestly making a false representation on or about November 11, 2010 in an online application for Housing Benefit and Council Tax benefit and one count of possessing an article for use in fraud on or about May 3, 2011, namely a profit and loss account for a business called Scoop SkinCare Ltd.
Bircham was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment, suspended for two years, and was ordered to complete 200 hours community service work.
A tax and benefit cheat business lecturer, devoted to financing her only child's private education, dodged prison yesterday despite swindling over £5,000 in benefits while under a suspended sentence for a £156,000 VAT scam. 
"Your claim for benefits was dishonest from the start, " Recorder Adam Hiddleston told Bircham at Croydon Crown Court. "You lied about your income, who you were sharing your home with, how many bank accounts you had and left out information you knew you needed to declare.
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