Woman avoids prison in wills and probate case

In a recent wills and probate case, a woman has avoided a prison sentence due to having two children to care for.

The Harrow Observer reported that Andrea Thomas, of Stanley Road, Roxeth, confessed that she did not tell the authorities when she received an inheritance, after her mother decided to make a will naming her as a beneficiary.

Instead, Ms Thomas, 33, carried on claiming housing and income support over a four-year period.

At Harrow Crown Court, judge Stephen Holt spoke out to say that she should receive a six-month jail term, but would not be given this as it would harm her six and nine-year-old daughters.

"Your benefit claims became fraudulent in 2005 and you failed to declare it. This is a significant sum," Mr Holt told the defendant.

In this year, she was the recipient of an inheritance exceeding £60,000, but on two occasions in 2008 claimed in forms that her savings only just exceeded £100, which investigators for the Department for Work and Pensions found was not the case.

Only last month, Peter Clarke was handed a jail sentence as a result of claiming benefits even though he had received an inheritance, the St Helen's Star reported.

Published by Phil Hammond