A Selby woman has pleaded guilty to dishonestly claiming £10,775 in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit from Selby District Council, and in Income Support from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Forty-eight year old Julie Sheeky of 110 Flaxley Road, Selby appeared at Selby Magistrates Court on Tuesday 30 August, where she was sentenced to a twelve-month community order of 182 hours' unpaid work and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £100.
 
Sheeky was charged with two offences of dishonestly failing to notify Selby District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions that from around February 2009 she was maintaining a common household at 110 Flaxley Road, Selby with her partner, with a view to obtaining Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and Income Support.  These offences are contrary to Section 111A of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.

Kelly Hamblin, prosecuting for Selby District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions, told the court that the Council's Enforcement team was alerted to irregularities in Sheeky's benefit claim and jointly investigated the case with the Department for Work and Pensions' Fraud Investigation Service.  It was found that Sheeky had failed to notify Selby District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions that her partner moved in with her on or around 1 February 2009, and that from then onwards they were maintaining a common household at 110 Flaxley Road, Selby.  This resulted in a Housing Benefit overpayment of £5,009, a Council Tax overpayment of £1,082 and an Income Support overpayment of £4,683. These overpayments are being recovered by Selby District Council and the Department for Work and Pensions directly from Sheeky.

Click here for more details about benefit fraud.