Two men from County Durham have been fined after fraudulently obtaining nearly £10,000 from a North East council through false council tax discount claims.
Scott Wheatley, 44, and Martin Fairlamb, 48, both of Edderacres Walk in Wingate, made false claims to Durham County Council to benefit from discounts on their council tax bills.
False claims over six years
Over more than six years, Wheatley claimed a 25 per cent discount on his council tax bill through the Single Person's Discount. For nearly two years before that, he had claimed 100 per cent Student Exemption.
In April 2021, he contacted the council to say he had always lived alone and submitted a form requesting Single Person Discount. However, an investigation by the council found independent evidence from multiple sources showing that Fairlamb was living with Wheatley throughout the period from 2012 to 2021.
In December 2022, Fairlamb falsely claimed he had moved into a separate property on Albert Street in Shildon. He contacted the local authority to advise them of the move and that he had occupied it from August 2022. To support his claim, he provided a landlord letter signed by Wheatley and an agreement listing Wheatley as landlord and Fairlamb as tenant.
Investigation and court outcome
The tenancy agreement, dated June 2022, was supposedly witnessed by Wheatley's mother and listed her address. However, council records confirmed she did not live at that address until August 2022.
The court heard the documents were used to support a false narrative of occupation and were made, supplied and used by both defendants to continue the fraud. They allowed Fairlamb to falsely benefit from Single Person's Discount until April 2024, while he continued to live with Wheatley at Edderacres Walk.
Fairlamb also applied for a Council Tax Reduction as the sole adult occupier, but this was not processed due to his earnings being too high.
Independent third-party evidence consistently placed Fairlamb at addresses linked to Wheatley, including marriage and family records, employer records, insurance policies, credit and retail accounts, and utility consumption data.
During interview, Wheatley accepted that Fairlamb stayed with him "more often than not" but tried to minimise the permanence of co-residency. Fairlamb maintained he had lived on Albert Street initially, with Wheatley's parents, and then as sole occupier. When pressed, Fairlamb could not explain how he could have lived at the address without using any gas or electricity. When challenged with evidence, he terminated the interview and declined to answer further questions.
Reassessment and penalties
The council reassessed council tax payments at the relevant properties, resulting in the removal of Student Disregard and Single Person Discount from Wheatley.
The fraud caused the council to overpay by £9,743.29 across the addresses, due to the authority footing the bill for the falsely claimed discounts.
During mitigation, Peterlee Magistrates' Court heard that Wheatley had not been aware he was not entitled to the benefit and had kept rolling it over, but he accepted it was his responsibility to know. It was also stated that he was the main carer for both Fairlamb and a dependent.
Magistrates fined Fairlamb £200 under the Fraud Act 2006 and ordered him to pay costs of £325 and an £80 victim surcharge. They handed Wheatley a 12-month community order requiring 150 hours of unpaid work, ordered him to pay £325 in costs and a victim surcharge of £114.
Paul Gibbon, Durham County Council's corporate fraud manager, said: "This was a thorough investigation that drew together evidence from multiple sources, and we are pleased that the court found the offences proven. The case demonstrates our commitment to protecting public funds and ensuring that council tax discounts are only awarded to those who are genuinely entitled to them."
