8:00am Saturday 31st July 2010
A BENEFITS cheat has been given a suspended sentence for claiming £32,000 for children who did not exist.
Beverley Shields-Thaws, 47, of Welch Close, Southend, was part of a scam which saw more than £500,000 siphoned off from the public purse in bogus tax credits payments.
Basildon Crown Court heard she put in a claim for six children who did not exist, and then boosted the payouts by saying five of them had disabilities. The unemployed mum-of-two also lied about having a part-time job in order to qualify for the payments. She was arrested in November 2008.
Shields-Thaws this week admitted three counts of fraud and one of transferring criminal property.
Judge Ian Graham sentenced Shields-Thaws to six-months in prison, but suspended the sentence for 18 months due to her poor mental health.
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