A Londonderry mother who was jailed for a 20-year benefit fraud has failed in her bid to have her sentence reduced. Donna McCool, 46, had her appeal dismissed by two senior judges at the Court of Appeal, who ruled that the five-month prison term was justified.
McCool, of Circular Road in Londonderry, was sentenced alongside her partner Michael Cecil Harkin, 50, last month. She admitted false accounting and making false declarations to obtain benefits, with the total fraud estimated at £76,000. The offences, spanning from September 1990, involved income support and jobseeker's allowance, which they claimed by making false declarations about their marital status.
During the appeal, McCool's legal team argued that the sentence was excessive, claiming that once the fraud began, she found it difficult to stop. Her barrister stated that based on her true entitlements, the actual fraud amounted to just over £5,000. However, Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan noted that while the benefits obtained were relatively modest, McCool had not faced up to her responsibilities even when detected, pleading not guilty until days before her trial.
Dismissing the appeal, Sir Declan said: 'We do not consider that the sentence of five months imprisonment was wrong in principle or manifestly excessive.' He emphasised the need for deterrent sentences to protect the benefits system from abuse.
