Cafe Boss Targeted Dead Neighbour's £32K Savings

A struggling cafe boss looted his dead neighbour's bank account while posing as the deceased, transferring his life savings from one account to another during a £32,400 scam.

Father-of-three Ali Sidar, 34, already had the PIN for 63 year-old Mike Jenkin's current account, which he quickly emptied before going after the rest of his savings - leaving the dead man's window having to borrow cash to fund the funeral.

"I make it clear I have no doubt whatsoever that this was perpetrated against an extremely vulnerable victim," said Croydon Crown Court Judge Heather Boucher. "He couldn't say anything could he? He was dead.

"It could be said you were building up, being a good neighbour to perpetrate this fraud. The plan for you may have been some time in the making."

Sidar, of Sandfield Gardens, Thornton Heath befriended the sick Mr. Jenkin, who lived in a flat above his cafe in Stanley Park Road, Sutton.

His lawyer Mr. Peter Hunter said: "Mr. Sidar took it upon himself to feed him, wash his clothes, and care for him. Mr. Jenkin was unable to walk up and down stairs and Mr. Sidar would carry him down to the restaurant to have free food.

"It was like a father/son relationship. This was true friendship, not to get something out of it and he had genuine grief when this man passed away. He was absolutely devastated."

However, Judge Baucher replied: "This complainant was absolutely vulnerable and could not be more vulnerable and you are making it worse by saying what good friends they were.

"You are saying that you can take your best friend's money as soon as they are dead. It is a gross breach of trust."

Mr. Jenkin died on May 19 from a respiratory infection and his wife rushed from the Philippines to be at his bedside for the last nine hours of his life.

She reported his death to LloydsTSB in order to close the accounts and they told her £5,400 had been withdrawn from her late husband's current account and £25,000 transferred from his savings to the current account, which Sidar had the debit card for.

Prosecutor Miss Shazia Ahmed told the court: "Mr. Sidar told the bank manager he was Mr. Jenkin's carer and that Mr. Jenkin had told him none else would be entitled to the money on his death.

"He suggested he had full authority to use Mr. Jenkin's money in a letter he could no longer find and that Mr. Jenkin made a promise that he could use all of the money for himself, his sister and his three children."

The court heard Sidar had recently taken out a £20,000 loan to keep his cafe going and was working seven days a week in order for the business to stay afloat.

The judge told first-time offender Sidar: "You went around the shops flashing Mr. Jenkin's debit card left, right and centre in order to obtain goods.

"Where was this mysterious letter we never saw? It didn't exist, it was a figment of your imagination.

"You thought this was a good way to provide a little extra for you and your three children and your cafe was also struggling.

"Mr. Jenkin's wife had to find and borrow money for the funeral because she had none of her own and there was none in the bank accounts."

Sidar was sentenced to sixteen months imprisonment, suspended for two years, ordered to perform 200 hours community service work, pay £5,000 compensation to Mr. Jenkin's estate and £1,000 costs.

He pleaded guilty to stealing £5,400, plus two counts of fraud involving the dishonest £25,000 transfer and spending £2,000 on Mr. Jenkin's debit card between May 19 and june 12, last year.

Scottish Football Fan In Pub Assault

A Scottish football fan, who attacked another man in a landmark Central London pub, has dodged jail with a suspended sentence, but is banned from matches for four years.

Christopher John Kloumann, 39, (pictured) of Kirklandneuk Road, Renfrew was sentenced to fifteen months imprisonment, suspended for two years.

He had already pleaded guilty at his first appearance at Hammersmith Magistrates' Court to assaulting Michael Butler, causing him actual bodily harm, at the Shakespeare Pub, Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria on March 9.

Kloumann was committed to Southwark Crown Court for sentencing after the lower court decided it's own powers – which are limited to six months custody – were insufficient to meet the justice of the case.

The court heard he was in the capital for a football match.

Kloumann was also sentenced to perform 100 hours community service.

He was made subject to a football banning order, prohibiting him from attending designated matches for four years.

Pub Customer Caught On CCTV Headbutting Alleged Drug Dealer

An Ebbw Vale man, working in London at a prestigious development, was caught on CCTV headbutting a suspected drug dealer, who kept hassling him during a night out.

Craig Lewis, 27, (pictured) of Gurnos Estate, Brynmawr says he rejected the dealer's repeated offers in a west London pub then launched the attack at a bus stop outside when approached again.

He pleaded guilty to assaulting Rajib Jha in King Street, Hammersmith on June 13 and was fined £230, with £85 costs and was ordered to pay £50 compensation to the victim, plus a £23 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor Mr. Paul Mitchell told Hammersmith Magistrates' Court a CCTV operator was viewing the area at the time.

“It was during the early hours of the morning and the victim had been waiting at a bus stop after a night out.

“A CCTV camera picked out the defendant, who was watched as he approached Mr. Jha and proceeded to headbutt him for no apparent reason that Mr. Jha could understand.

“Police officers were directed to the location and Mr. Lewis was detained nearby.”

The defendant told the officers: “He kept offering me drugs and I headbutted him.”

Lewis is a £1400 per month member of the ground investigation team contracted to work at the Chelsea Harbour development.

Lewis's lawyer Miss Annie Finn told the court: “He had been in the William Morris pub that night and the victim continually offered him drugs and he headbutted him out of anger.

“The victim suffered a cut to the lip and a scratch to his face, but the victim did not wish to assist police that much and did not give consent to any medical form.

“Mr. Lewis had been working hard, was tired and was upset because a friend of his had recently died from drugs.

“It was just one headbutt, it was a combination of factors on that day and is unlikely to reoccur.

"The victim was unwilling to co-operate with the police and, it appears, was unwilling to appear in court.”

Star-Spotting In SE19: #1 - Kelly Brook

Star-spotters in Crystal Palace, south London treated themselves to an eyeful of gorgeous model/actress Kelly Brook yesterday, who was shooting a low-budget movie outside a landmark local store.

The 33 year-old, photographed here opposite Gipsy Hill Police Station, was shooting scenes for her new comedy-drama 'Taking Stock' which is set in London and Paris.

She donned the black T-shirt garb of independent interior design store Do South.

The shop was opened by enthusiastic retailers aiming to bring a relaxed shabby chic vibe to the suburb - something usually only seen in the rarified environs of uber-trendy neighbourhoods such as Notting Hill.

The film crew spent several hours over a couple of days shooting in Church Road, SE19 and the ever-friendly and charming Kelly posed for fans photo's and signed autographs after her work was done.

Champion Rower Denies Punching Rising Star Lawyer In Celebrity Nightclub

L: Sean Corriggal R: Edward Dyson

A champion rower enjoying a rare night out at a celebrity club repeatedly punched a successful Canary Wharf lawyer, who denies exaggerating the incident to cash-in with a personal injury claim, a court heard yesterday.

Six-foot eight inches tall Orkney Isles-native Sean Corrigall, 23, denies landing a flurry of blows on solicitor Edward Dyson, 28, an associate and commercial law specialist with Clifford Chance - one of the largest firm's in the world with annual revenues of £1.3 billion.

Corrigall, of Warehams Farm, Sutton Green Road, Sutton Green, Guildford - who rows with the prestigious Molesey club - denies assaulting Mr. Dyson on March 31 at Mayfair's Mahiki.

"Out of nowhere a large gentleman crept around the side of the dance floor and took a swing at me and I took a blow to my left ear," Mr. Dyson, who denies suggestions he was high in drugs, told Hammersmith Magistrates' Court.

"It was with a fist, a punch. It clipped my jaw and hit my ear and he then went for my head and clipped my the right side of my jaw with a right-hand uppercut.

"I was hit four times, including the back of my neck and to the lower torso. If I had been hit in the teeth or nose I would have broken teeth and a broken nose.

"After the punches had been landed I was put in a headlock by the male and went down."

He claims to have suffered a whiplash-type injury and insists the blows have worsened his pre-existing tinnitus - a ringing in the ears he has endured since being punched in a separate club incident eight years ago.

"It's worse than it ever was," Durham University graduate Mr. Dyson told the court. "It is just so loud now, like alarm bells and car horns constantly.

"There is no treatment for tinnitus. I have seen an esteemed consultant, but unfortunately there is nothing I can do.

"I have these noises, noises that are deafening and I cannot sleep again."

Coupled with his fourteen to sixteen hour workdays and insomnia Mr. Dyson told the court the assault has had a large impact on his quality of life.

However, Corrigall's lawyer Mr. Michael Stradling suggested: "Is this not a precursor to a personal injury claim? It is all part and parcel of you trying to make a claim and show yourself as the victim and not the aggressor.

"You were aggressive for whatever reason, either through too much alcohol or some sort of substance abuse. You were recklessly aggressive and made violent attempts to butt Mr. Corrigall.

"You went a little bit too far and you realised that and that is why you went to every effort to call the police to save your position, your status."

Mr. Dyson denied he was "arrogant and aggressive" adding: "This is a slight on my character. I have never taken any illegal substance and would never do so, my career is too important.

"In my life, my role, I have to be whiter than white."  

Trouble began at 1am when Mr. Dyson - who had consumed red wine and vodka that night - claims Corrigall and his three friends refused to budge on the club's landing as he tried to make his way to the toilet.

"I was walking to the bathroom and there is a landing where four gentlemen were standing and I said: 'Excuse me. Can I get through?'

For whatever reason, maybe they had been drinking they started remonstrating and they were all tall, six-foot plus men and they would not move and I forced myself to get around them. 

"They laughed at me, it was childish, nonsensical. They said something about my mother and I said: 'Don't be so childish' and laughed at them.

"I went to the urinal and moments later someone threw a drink on my back."

Corrigall told the court Mr. Dyson barged into his group aggressively and reacted angrily when the defendant suggested he should have simply asked: "Excuse me."

"He came towards me quite aggressively and attempted to bite me on the nose. I had to move back, quite dumbfounded, and he then tried to do it a second time.

"It was like a dog snapping, you could hear his teeth and one of my friends said he seemed highly intoxicated through drugs."

Corrigall and a pal went to the toilet, where he says Mr. Dyson deliberately barged into them, spilling the drink his friend was holding over all three of them.

"He said: 'You don't know who you're f***ing messing with. I own half of this nightclub and I'm going to get you c**** banned for life."

Mr. Dyson complained to a club bouncer and Corrigall's friend was removed, prompting the defendant to seek him out on the dance floor, where he says the lawyer assaulted him.

"He struck me on my head with his head and then he lunged towards me with his head and struck the bottom of my cheek and I felt I had to restrain him with a headlock."

The pair fell to the floor and Corrigall, who had consumed one cider and one beer during his first ever visit to a nightclub, told the court Mr. Dyson said: "I am going to sue you for everything you're worth."

Mr. Dyson conceded from the witness box: "If you assault a solicitor it is not the best idea, because I will call the police."

Staff were unwilling to call 999, but Mr. Dyson, who staff pinned to the wall at one point, did and officers arrested Corrigall outside after he was wrestled to the floor.

Corrigall won has won four golds at the last two Scottish Indoor Rowing championships, where he broke his own national record last year, and won two golds at the Metropolitan and the Marlow Regatta and the gold cup for the 2,000 metres at the Henley Town Regatta.

The trial will resume on July 23.

Firearms Investigation: Online Gun Trader In Court

A part-time online gun trader appeared in court for the first time today, accused of twenty-four counts of selling or transferring adapted firearms.

Butcher John Rhodes, 36, of London Street, Fleetwood, Lancashire, who has been on police bail for two years, appeared at west London's Hammersmith Magistrates' Court (pictured).

He was arrested by Scotland Yard's Central Intelligence Unit.

The charges, all on or before September 13, 2011, relate to a Umarex Walther P22; Retay Desert Eagle; three Umarex Colt 1911's; Zoraki 925; Walther P22 forearm.

Rohm RG3; Ekol Viper; Heckler & Koch P30 Walther PP; Ekol Jackal Dual.

Colt 1911; Ekol Special 99; Colt Government 1911; Ekol Jackal Dual blank-firing pistol; Walther P22 blank-firing pistol.

Colt 45 blank-firing pistol; Colt 45 blank-firing pistol; Saver P239 blank-firing pistol; Walther P99 blank-firing pistol; Ekol Viper; Heckler & Koch MPSK-PDW air weapon and a Walther P22 blank-firing pistol.

Rhodes, who admits he bought and sold replicas and decommissioned firearms online, is accused of trading in guns that could be adapted to fire gas-propelled projectile.

He was bailed to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on July 26 on condition he continues to report three times a week to his local police station.

Daughter Of Sports Presenter Richard Keys Clawed Mum During Drunken Domestic Row

Jemma & Julia Keys

The troubled daughter of ex-Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys attacked her mother during an alcohol-fuelled row - the latest in a long line of drink-related incidents that have shook the family for the last seven years.

Former Hollyoaks star Jemma Keys, 28, dug her fingernails into her mother Julia's wrists as Mrs Keys tried to defend herself from a flurry of kicks at the family's £4m Chelsea home.

She pleaded guilty at Hammersmith Magistrates' Court to assaulting Mrs Keys, 53, by beating, on May 21 at the Rawlings Street house and was sentenced today to a twelve-month community order, which includes 175 hours of community service work.

Jemma also admitted breaching an existing community order imposed for an offence of drink-driving and taking and driving away a car, for which she also received a three-year road ban last year.

She failed to co-operate with the probation service when she flew to an alcohol treatment clinic in Thailand, a trip funded by her father.

Prosecutor Miss Funmi Ajose told the court: "Mrs Keys went to Notting Hill Police Station on the twenty-third of May and said her daughter was at home and was very drunk.

"She said they shared the same house and she was scared to go home and she showed the police cuts to both of her wrists.

"She explained that two days earlier she had returned home at 4pm and Jemma was there and was very drunk and fell on the kitchen floor.

"Her mother went over to her and then placed her on the living-room sofa when Jemma began to kick out and kicked her in the upper legs and abdominal area.

"She tried to defend herself by holding the defendant, but Miss Keys dug her nails into her mother's wrists, causing what has been described as four deep cuts to the left wrist and two cuts to the right wrist."

When questioned by police Jemma answered "no comment" to most questions, but did say the incident was a relapse after three months without a drink.

"She was so drunk at the time she does not remember the offence happening," said Keys' lawyer Mr. James Oliver. "She has no previous convictions for violence and she is devastated by the effect this has had on her relationship with her mother."

However, the court heard Keys received a police caution for an assault complaint made by her mother previously.

"The background is Miss Keys' addiction to alcohol and she has had financial and moral support from her parents and has sought counselling.

"She has shown a reluctance to take part in alcohol counselling because she has been in residential rehabilitation, funded by her parents, and feels until she addresses her emotional problems she will relapse.

"She now sees a counsellor twice a week, but it stopped recently when her parents were on holiday for ten days and failed to pay.

"She had difficulties growing up and there were difficulties in her parents' relationship that effected her.

"Miss Keys has had the confirmation of a job with DKNY and an address paid for by her parents, providing stability."

In the last year Keys has lived in approximately ten different addresses including Sunningdale, Wentworth, Plymouth, Chelsea and Ilford, but her new three-year lease is for a settled home in Westbourne Terrace Road, Bayswater.

"There have been a number of moves and this will help her settle down," added Mr. Oliver. 

"Mrs Keys and Miss Keys have together sought counselling and are working together and Mr Keys has recently obtained employment in Qatar and Mrs Keys will be joining him.

"She will be out of the country, lessening the risk of any re-offending."

It was announced this week that talkSPORT presenter Richard Keys and sidekick Andy Gray have landed a role presenting next season's Premier League games on the English language channel of Middle East TV giants Al Jazeera.

There have been alcohol relapses since her arrest and when Keys was bailed for probation reports three weeks ago the court was told she had been drinking seven days previously.

On the day she pleaded guilty her lawyer Fadi Daoud urged the magistrates to order reports and said any financial penalty or compensation would only punish the parents.

"The person who would pay it would ultimately be Richard Keys or Julia Keys because she is completely dependant on her parents.

"She is dysfunctional and has no income and no job and is somebody who has had alcohol problems for six or seven years.

"Her mother went to the police because she found her daughter drunk again, face-down, and there has been a lot of history in the past when her mother has not pursued it.

"Miss Keys continued to receive the support of her family and is somebody who can remain sober for six or seven weeks and then relapse.

"It is an on-going problem the family are dealing with. There is a massive amount of history."

Mr. Daoud said Jema's drink-drive conviction occurred during a violent domestic row with an ex-boyfriend.

"She was in an abusive relationship with a man and was escaping him when she was drunk and was driving his car.

"Miss Keys takes a lot of energy and time out of her family and others and she has to realise it is down to her and hopefully as a result of this the light has come on.

"She is a clever girl from a good family and her family have assisted her by buying her a home and arranging for a car to always pick her up and collect her so she can avoid dangers."

The lawyer asked the court to give Keys credit for her behaviour while on bail. "She could have run away and been found again face-down in the gutter.

"The positive is that she has a family that can and will assist her."

District Judge Susan Williams said when adjourning for reports three weeks ago: "She's a frequent and problematic offender not in control of her addiction.

"I'm very sympathetic to the mother, whose daughter is in the grip of a pernicious addiction

"Only she can make it work. She's going to have to persuade the alcohol worker and the court she means it.

"In the life of an alcoholic, coming back and forth to court, there is only one sentence and that is custody to protect the public and her mother when she's drinking."

The court heard Keys was previously arrested by Sussex Police for being drunk and disorderly on January 3 and received a caution.

No compensation is being sought against Miss Keys for the injuries caused and the prosecution had no information as to whether a restraining order was being sought or not.

While on bail Jemma had been staying with friends in Abbots Drive, Virginia Water, Wentworth, but they expressed concern they could not control her, particularly as there was a nearby corner shop that sold alcohol.

"It seems there are endless breaches of bail conditions and probation appointments," announced sentencing magistrate Alexia Featherstonhaugh today. "It is either due to her chaotic lifestyle or a total disregard for the court.

"We have raised the point you kicked her and we assume you did have shoes on, but nothing has been said either way," the magistrate told Keys.

"You were on an order that you don't seem to have taken much notice of, that aggravates it, and this was a domestic in which you were causing violence against your own mother, who was trying to help you out at the time and that aggravates it.

"You also have a previous caution against the same victim, your mother.

"We have heard that you are mortified by this, but there have been a number of breaches of the court , of bail and community orders and that does you no favours.

"You don't just swan off at your own behest. You do what you are told by probation."

Keys was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

The house Keys shared with her mother is currently available for rent with an asking price of £2,500 per week. 

Benefit Cheat Kept Inheritance And Bank Savings A Secret

A benefit cheat, who pocketed nearly £50,000 during an eight-year scam while keeping his savings and an inheritance a secret, was bailed for probation reports today after finally admitting the fraud.

Ronald Cooper, 61, (pictured) of King Charles House, Wandon Road, Fulham, who now receives Disability Living Allowance, will return to Isleworth Crown Court for sentencing on August 6.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of dishonestly making false representations in relation to housing benefit and council tax benefit applications and one count on relation to income support between September 10, 2002 and June 1, 2008.

He also pleaded guilty to dishonestly failing to notify a change of circumstances to the Department of Work and Pensions, namely a £25,666 inheritance on or about June 30, 2010.

Investigators discovered savings in a LLoydsTSB bank account of £18,814, increasing to £20,944 during the period of the charges.

Dental Nurse And Her Assistant's £108K Immigration Scam

Gladys Canal

A dental nurse and her assistant ran a £108,000 immigration scam from a Harley Street surgery - ripping-off hopeful applicants they knew had no hope of obtaining a visa, a jury heard today.

Ressie Macaraeg, 42, and her number two Gladys Canal, 43, (pictured) were unqualified to give immigration advice, which they charged a service fee of £3,500 for, while purporting to assist applicants obtain work visas.

Isleworth Crown Court heard Macaraeg, of West Cromwell Road, Kensington and Canal, of Coleridge Way, Borehamwood pocketed a total of £108,288 they obtained from the applicants.

Prosecutor Mr. Nick Mather told the jury 122 visa applicants, who sought advice and help, had been traced. 

"Of those the vast majority were rejected and the defendants must have known what they were doing was wrong and they knew the consequences of a failed application on their customers.

"That applicant would have to leave the UK voluntarily or if they were caught overstaying they would be deported and be less likely to complain and cause trouble for the defendants because they were no longer in the country."

Half of the £3,500 fee was paid in advance of the Home Office application and was non-refundable is unsuccessful, with the balance due only if a visa was granted.

"They must have known they were sending in applications with no hope of success," added Mr. Maher. "They must have known what they were doing was wrong and they kept doing it.

"Macaraeg was providing Tier Two immigration assistance, which she was not qualified to do, because she was not registered with the relevant authority."

When questioned in December, 2011 by the Immigration Services Commission Macaraeg claimed a man named 'Joseph' completed all the paperwork and clients were not given immigration advice.

"She said she knew nothing about the forging of signatures and that she never did any of the paperwork."

The Home Office visa applicants needed sufficient points to obtain work permits and the prosecution say the defendants continued to charge fees, knowing the applications fell well short.

The surgery was also given as the home address for the applicants.

"It was important for Macaraeg that the letters were sent to her home or office so she could continue the fraud," explained Mr. Maher. "It is a dental surgery, nobody lives there.

"The applicants were spun out over a period of time and they were put off time and time again by staff, including Canal.

"People never received the Home Office letters they were supposed to get until it was too late.

"These defendants were lying to people and taking money from them for services they could not deliver."

Macaraeg has pleaded not guilty to five counts of fraud by dishonestly making false representations between August 1, 2010 and July 30, 2011 and unlawfully providing immigration advice between March 19, 2010 and April 12, last year.

Both defendants have denied five similar charges of fraud by false representation between July 1, 2010 and December 28, 2011.

Both defendants have also pleaded not guilty to transferring £62,668 in criminal property between June 8, 2010 and October 19, 2011 and Macaraeg alone denies possessing £45,620 in criminal property.

Trial continues………….

Knifeman Settles Old Dispute By Stabbing Rival To Death

A knifeman, who stabbed a long-standing love-rival to death after they clashed in an east London pub, has been caged for ten years.

Fitzroy Daley, 36, (pic.bottom) went home and armed himself with the blade, which he plunged eight times into Eric Paul, 53, (pic.top) in a local street.

They had rowed earlier in the evening in the Widow's Son pub, Devons Road, Bow - their ongoing dispute flaring up again, which stemmed from the break-up of one of Mr. Paul's previous relationships.

Daley, of Sedgwick House, Gale Street, was convicted by an Old Bailey jury of the manslaughter of Mr. Paul in Devons Road in the early hours of December 22, last year.

He casually walked away from the scene after repeatedly stabbing the victim, who was treated in the street by an off-duty nurse and then paramedics.

Mr. Paul was rushed to the Royal London Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 5.00am.

Detective Inspector Andy Manning of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command said: "Fitzroy Daley used brutal violence to settle what was essentially a minor dispute with Eric Paul.



"His actions have deprived Mr Paul's long-term partner and her children a father figure and devastated his family.



"I can only hope that this verdict brings some form of closure to Mr Paul's family and friends."

Drug Smuggler's Missus Jailed For £150K Benefits Swindle

Alex Odewale & Oluyemisi Ojofeitimi

The wife of a major drug smuggler has been jailed for her own sideline - a £150,000 decade-long benefits swindle, which saw the couple put together a lucrative property portfolio at the expense of taxpayers.

Mother-of-two Oluyemisi Ojofeitimi, 46, of Northampton Road, Addiscombe created false identities to purchase three properties and either rented them on housing benefit for herself or to other claimants.

She was arrested when police raided the five-bedroom home she shared with her husband Alexander Odewale, 45, who last year received 12 years imprisonment for importing £2.1m worth of herbal cannabis hidden within a shipment of oranges.

"If you had not been detected you would have ended up with three properties, maybe more, that would have increased in value," Croydon Crown Court Judge Ruth Downing told Ojofeitimi.

"You have lived for over a decade on the public purse, passing yourself off as a landlord in one identity and a tenant in another identity.

"There are thousands of women in your position and they do not all start long-term sophisticated frauds to purchase properties that would accrue to your credit."

A Proceeds of Crime Act application will seek to claw back the losses, although one of the couple's homes, 224 Holtye Road, East Grinstead has already been destroyed by a mysterious fire after it was made subject to proceedings.

Ojofeitimi also lied in mortgage applications, claiming she was in full-time work earning up to £62,000 a year, to purchase two of the properties for £240,000 and £105,000 respectively.

Between November 2000 and June 2011 she received £118,063 in housing benefit; £27,336 in income support and £6,000 in council tax benefit.

Prosecutor Mr. Julius Capon told the court police raided the couple's £470,000 home to arrest Odewale and stumbled upon the fraud during a drugs search.

"It was clear a substantial fraud had been carried out over a number of years with the defendant renting properties on housing benefit in a different identity to the identities she used to buy the properties.

"This must have been carefully planned and was fraudulent from the outset and she set up tenancy agreements and provided evidence of paying rent."

Ojofeitimi's lawyer Mr. Andrew Walklate said: "The relationship with her husband was not a happy one, it was an abusive relationship. She suffers from depression and has suicidal thoughts.

"She used the housing benefit money over a long period of time in order to fund living and it was used to prop up mortgages that were obtained fraudulently."

The lawyer asked the court to treat Ojofeitimi as someone of "almost good character" in light of her 1997 attempted deception conviction for trying to obtain a £5,000 Halifax loan in a bogus name.

"It is scant consolation to the British public that the mortgage companies got their money," added Judge Downing. "She has been committing offences for over a decade."

Ojofeitimi pleaded guilty to four counts of false accounting relating to housing benefit applications; six counts of fraud by false representation relating to property ownership and one count of money laundering.

She was sentenced to eighteen months imprisonment for the benefit offences, plus six months consecutive for money laundering and was told she would be released after serving half the period.