Mother in benefit fraud *again*

A "cunning attention-seeker" who claimed she was dying of cancer to con £19,000 in benefits has been spared jail.

Mum-of-three Gemma Goodwin, 36, not only lied about having a terminal diagnosis but also that she had the serious and debilitating autoimmune condition, Lupus.

A court heard the 36-year-old, from Kent, even forged letters purporting to be from medical experts to back-up her lies.

As a result, she received £18,923 personal independence payments from the Department of Work and Pensions for two-and-a-half years.

The allowance, commonly known as PIP, is designed to assist those with the extra costs of a long-term health condition or disability.

But Maidstone Crown Court heard that Goodwin's claim was fraudulent from the outset.

It also took place just three years after she was convicted of another scam in which she obtained approximately £40,000 in housing benefit.

Now working part-time in accounts for a tyre company, she is currently repaying the overpayment at a rate of £12.50 a month.

On that basis it will take her a staggering 126 years to pay it all back.

On Tuesday, sobbing Goodwin was given a 16-month jail term suspended for two years, despite Judge Philip Statman remarking during the hearing that having dependant children was not a 'get out of jail card'.

Taking the unusual step of asking Goodwin to leave the dock and stand in the witness box, Judge Philip Statman told her: "I am just persuaded as a pure act of mercy and because of the concerns that I have for your children that I'm going to suspend the sentence of imprisonment upon you.

"I have taken the view after long and careful consideration that to send you to prison today would have not only deprived three children of their mother but also wrecked three young lives."

But the judge said he was also imposing stringent conditions of a nine-month, tagged nightly curfew, 180 hours of unpaid work and 30 days' rehabilitation activity requirement to reflect society's concern as to why he had 'come down in her favour'.

"You richly deserve to go to prison immediately. This was a sophisticated fraud and there was a degree of cunning in what you did," added Judge Statman.

"By defrauding this particular amount that is set aside by society for PIP, you place even greater pressure upon that fund which is already stretched to extreme by those who make legitimate claims.

"There are many people in the community with children of a young age who are trying to work as hard as they can and it doesn't lead them to steal or commit fraud in the manner that you have.

"I have taken account of the aggravating and mitigating factors in your case....On that particular balance, I have formed the view that the punishment I have served upon you is the right and proper one. It is justice tempered with mercy."

Defence barrister Peter Alcock had told the court it could impose a non-custodial sentence by reason of Goodwin's desire to repay, together with her mental health, guilty pleas, employment and the impact of a prison sentence on her children.

Furthermore, he added her offending was motivated by 'attention-seeking and sympathy' rather than a luxury lifestyle, and that she simply used the money 'to smooth a difficult existence' of bringing up three children alone.

Goodwin, from Dartford, Kent, admitted four offences of benefit fraud and two of furnishing false information.

She had cried in the dock as reference was made to her three children, now aged 12, nine and eight.

Judge Statman had adjourned the hearing overnight so he could consider all the evidence before him.

In acknowledging Goodwin's visible upset on what he called her 'Judgment Day', he also remarked: "Children of this age are as much victims as those that lost the money."

Prosecutor Edmund Gross told the court three of the charges related to Goodwin making false statements in relation to having lupus and one in respect of suffering from terminal cancer.

He said Goodwin also produced letters purporting to be from the London Lupus Centre in support of her claims for PIP.

"Between November 2015 and July 2018 she received overpayment on the grounds she had an illness or disability and needed help, which was untrue and false from the outset," he told the court.

"Health professionals she provided information about didn't exist and she wasn't a patient at the named hospitals. This is sophisticated fraud with detailed information being given about her needs which is false and produced in order to support this."

The court heard Goodwin's lies had 'spiralled out of control' after telling a friend and her former boss she had health problems.

Having been told she was therefore entitled to financial assistance, Goodwin applied for the state benefit.

"Whether it was self-esteem, attention-seeking or a manifestation of the depression that she has.....it spiralled," said Mr Alcock.

"It wasn't said for financial fraud but to gain support and sympathy. It was one untruth for sympathy which became an untruth for a different purpose and then spiralled over the two-year period."

Asked by Judge Philip Statman what the money was used for, Mr Alcock said: "It went on living. There's no luxury lifestyle, there's no fast car. It's not a fortune but it may have smoothed a difficult existence."

For her previous conviction for benefit fraud in 2012, she received six months' imprisonment suspended for a year, with an unpaid work requirement.

Goodwin sobbed and thanked Judge Statman at the end of the hearing.

He said her small monthly repayment showed 'an element of remorse' and warned her: "Don't you dare stop paying."

Source with pictures