Comparing court sentences is always a risky business, but there are a couple of imprisoned former MPs who might feel bitter about this woman.
They stole a lot less from the public purse than she did, but she's been given community work:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1355843/Single-mother-benefits-cheat-claimed-22-500-husband-130k-year.html
Many of these benefits cheats cases are similar: "The original claim was honest," your honour. "But she moved back in with her partner and forgot to stop claiming." As you do.
They tend to be sentenced on value, £20,000 is not normally prison, so it's the MPs that have been given harsh treatment, rather than this woman treated leniently.
|
I don't think jail is the right answer for people who defraud the welfare system. It costs a fortune to send people to jail she has done us enough damage.
The best thing do with these people is make them do lots and lots of community service.
Also remember she will now have a crinimal record and will find it quite hard to get a job in the future.
|
|
No. The best thing to do is to make these thieving weasels pay back everything they owe even if the have to work until they're 80. And stop them from claiming *any* benefits ever again. Sick of the cheating scum working the system when there are many that are in need that get refused any help.
|
...make these thieving weasels pay back everything they owe even if the have to work until they're 80...
Have to agree.
In truth, 'work' is a four-letter word to many benefits cheats, who remain economically inactive and carry on claiming.
What happens is the Department of Work and Pensions deducts a few pounds a week from the benefits to which the cheat is genuinely entitled.
They are thus deemed to be paying it back, even if it will take 20 or 30 years or more.
|
so it's the
>> MPs that have been given harsh treatment
>>
>>
>>
Rightly so. MP's are in a position of trust.
Pour encourager les autres.
Maybe the other passengers on the parliamentary gravy train will think twice in future.
I suspect the Westminster frauds are but a drop in the ocean compared to the EU though.
|
quote-----She will also face a confiscation hearing on June 7 about recouping some money.------------------------unquote
good thats what i like to see poca in action
|
... like to see poca in action...
Proceeds of Crime Act - looks like this woman may have some assets to go after.
Unusual in a case such as this, most benefits cheats have nowt, or nowt that's traceable.
|
Reading between the lines she's still the carer for a 'difficult' teenage step daughter and a step grandchild. Jailing her would do no good at all.
The house in the picture's hardly millionaire's row but OTOH her hubby is apparently on £130k. How he walked back into a job like that after doing time for assault is another unanswered question.
MP's are a different case and anything less than exemplary sentences would have created a righteous uproar.
|
...Jailing her would do no good at all...
Rightly or wrongly, anything other than prison is regarded by the public as a 'let-off'.
This case - and many others - sends the message that you can steal £20,000 from the public purse and you won't get much in the way of punishment.
Unsurprisingly, I regard that as the wrong message.
Others may disagree.
|
i agree 100% with you
too many namby pambies in this world
put the kids in care for 6 months to damm with the expenses and these people might just then have a different outlook on life and not see the system as an easy screw once they meet evil patricia on c wing who wants to lick their ear
im sure everyone should go to jail once just to let them know its not easy street
|
I disagree about jail being a solution. Jail is to keep the public safe from people who are dangers to us. (Corrupt MPs are a danger).
Benefits cheats could and should be dealt with by a totally different way. Lose all entitlement to future benefits for X years with X being determined on a scale depending on how much is stolen.
After the initial outcry and pious crying on behalf of a thief, I suspect many people tempted to cheat would think otherwise.
It will of course happen . Anyone who thinks the current benefits system is viable with an ageing population needs to do some sumsz...
|
And the next benefits cheat coming down the belt is...
...former Iron Maiden lead singer Paul Andrews who thieved £45,000 by claiming his bad back made it impossible for him to work.
But the sleuths from the DWP were on his case after they were sent a link to web footage of Andrews, 52, leaping around on stage.
I see from the photographs he arrived for the hearing carrying a 'court stick' - hope he remembered to remove the price tag.
Prison for Paul, I think - more than £45,000 is too much to overlook, and unlike female defendants, he can't attempt emotional blackmail on the judge by claiming he's pregnant or has babies to look after.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1356025/Ex-Iron-Maiden-lead-singer-faces-jail-falsely-claiming-45-000-benefits.html
|
Iffy's right, gaol for Paul.
I'd hope however that our Judges are resistant to emotional blackmail. Pregnancy is a matter of fact and caring responsibilities will surely be verified in pre-sentence reports.
|
. Pregnancy is a matter
>> of fact and caring responsibilities will surely be verified in pre-sentence reports.
>>
give it some...........
|
...Pregnancy is a matter of fact and caring responsibilities will surely be verified in pre-sentence reports...
I've seen the 'pregnancy card' played often.
A woman on a serious charge knows fine well the gestation period of the court system is similar to her own.
If she gets pregnant soon after arrest, come day of sentence she will either be pregnant, or the mother of a new baby.
She can't lose, either situation will be used to her advantage.
Those of us of all disciplines who hang around crown courts use the phrase 'tactical pregnancy'.
|
I assume Paul D'ianno, or whatever it was, was his stage name then! Another scumbag cheating the system. Jail and no more benefits ever.
Perhaps those sent to jail that have children should have to have them adopted into decent families so the offspring don't learn their bad ways? Might break that cycle of crime...
|
I come across all sorts and a few I know are on invalidity benefit. They seem ok to me, but I'm not a doctor. They get nervous when called in for a re-assessment. A quick trip to CAB for what entitles them (no slight to CAB, I am not suggesting collusion) to such benefit and hey! they know what answers to give. "Oh I got my score up from 1 point (genuine I presume) to 18" said one guy. No doubt the 18 was with a few fibs being told.
Yes, at the very least full lifetime withdrawal of all benefits plus let's have back what they cheated out of the system. Why should I have to pay for it? I must be feeling narky tonight!
John
|
no slight to cab?
i have NO time for then
if i was poor desperate and didnt even have a war cry to my name i would'nt seek their advice
they should keep to making flower arranging
|
>>A quick trip to CAB for what entitles them (no slight to
>> CAB, I am not suggesting collusion) to such benefit and hey! they know what answers
>> to give. "Oh I got my score up from 1 point (genuine I presume) to
>> 18" said one guy. No doubt the 18 was with a few fibs being told.
While I don't exclude the possibility of fibs there's a huge advantage in understanding how the claim assessor's song sheet works. Think of it in terms of a job appraisal; some people's natural reticence means they undersell themselves.
And something over 30% of appeals succeed, often because the tribunal's the first time somebody's pro-actively questioned how the claimant's condition really affects them.
|
No jail for £22,500 benefits cheat - RattleandSmoke
