A benefits cheat who hid her husband from the authorities has been given nearly 500 years to pay back the money she fraudulently claimed.
Lesleyann McLean, 44, never told the Department of Work and Pensions that she was living with her husband as she illegally claimed £27,908. Perth Sheriff Court was told that the benefits agency is now taking the money back from McLean's benefits at a rate of £5 per month.
The 'overpayment' plan means the full sum will take more than 465 years to pay back - and won't be finished until McLean turns 510 years old. McLean, Affric Avenue, Scone, admitted that between 27 July 2020 and 4 November 2023, she failed to notify DWP of a material change in her circumstances.
Fraud details and court admission
McLean never told DWP that she was living with her husband. She admitted completing universal credit claim forms stating she was single and lived alone, when the truth was she was cohabiting with Barry McLean, and obtained £27,908 which she was not entitled to.
Sheriff William Wood placed McLean on a curfew for 12 months as a direct alternative to a prison sentence. He said: "What is beyond doubt is that fraud of this kind affects all of us because it means there is more money for you that you are not entitled to - and less for the other people who are entitled to it. It could be used for other services or things the Government provides. There was a change of circumstances you ought to have told them about and you ignored that."
Defence and personal circumstances
Solicitor Kirsty Watson, defending, told the court that her client was "not funding a lavish lifestyle" but was using the money to support her drug addict son's debts. She said: "She accepts this is a serious matter and the overpayment was £27,908. The offending continued from July 2020 to November 2023 and she does not seek to minimise the amount or duration. The claim was not fraudulent from the outset. She and her husband had separated. Once she made the universal credit claim the relationship resumed and she failed to notify DWP of that change.
"The money was not funding a lavish lifestyle. It was largely used for household bills and ordinary living expenses. Her husband was working full-time, but she was carrying a disproportionate share of the household expenditure. There was further pressure from her adult son, struggling with drug addiction and debts, and she was giving money to him that she simply could not afford.
"She is remorseful and recovery of the over-payment has commenced at £5 per month. That is modest and she accepts that. There was no sophistication, significant planning or abuse of trust involving others. I accept the duration of the offending is an aggravating factor.
"Against that is a completely clean record, remorse, significant health difficulties, financial pressure and domestic abuse. She is a first offender."
