A MUM who was desperate to get her children out of care fraudulently claimed thousands of pounds so she could live in a better home.

Mum-of-four Sharon Woods was overpaid £25,667 in housing benefit and council tax after claiming she didn’t have a bank account and lived alone.

But Woods, 38, was caught out by Basildon Council fraud investigators who discovered her benefits would not cover the rent of her home in Roberts Road, Laindon.

Further investigations found bills and loans were in the joint name of Woods and her partner John Glover.

When Woods was quizzed, in November last year, she claimed she had no knowledge of Mr Glover and denied the allegations.

Samantha Leigh, mitigating, said although the fraud went on for two years, the defendant had not committed the offences to lead a luxury lifestyle.

Ms Leigh said Woods’s children were taken into care because her previous home was unfit for them to live in.

She said Woods rented accommodation beyond her means because she was desperately hoping to get her children back.

Yesterday, at Basildon Crown Court, District Judge Christopher Chandler sentenced Woods to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months.

He told her: “I am quite sure, in the last few months, you have suffered tremendously as a result of this and the other things that have happened in your life.

“I certainly consider this to be a case that would ordinarily justify a sentence of imprisonment.

“I am going to pass a sentence of imprisonment, but I am going to suspend it.”

District Judge Chandler also ordered Woods, who pleaded guilty to four counts of fraud, to complete the probation service’s Think First programme.