Woman fraudulently claimed £141k benefits

Haley Higginbotham received an 18 month sentence suspended for two years

A benefit cheat who fraudulently claimed £141,000 in income support over a nine-year period has been sentenced.

Haley Higginbotham, 36, continued to claim the benefit between May 2013 and October 2022 despite receiving about £142,000 from her partner during the same period.

Douglas Courthouse heard although she had initially claimed the support legitimately from 2008, she did not tell the authorities when her circumstances changed.

Handing her an 18-month sentence, suspended for two years, Deemster Graeme Cook said it had been a "hard lesson" but her actions had "amounted to fraud".

Douglas Courthouse heard Higginbotham, of Urley Path in Anagh Coar had initially started claiming income support as single mother in 2008.

However, between 2019 and 2022 social security staff noticed that her normal monthly spending in Tesco, Spar and Marks & Spencer amounted to payments that would "greatly exceed" her declared means.

A further investigation uncovered an increase in spending that dated back to 2012, the court was told.

'Maintenance'

The court heard her partner had been giving her money and paying a number of her bills, including for Manx Telecom, Sure, Manx Petroleum, and Isle of Man Creamery, as well as her television licence, amounting to £142,000 over the nine-year period.

She had also failed to declare that she had an Isle of Man bank account, although there was no activity on it, the court was told.

When asked by officers whether her partner was providing financial support she said "he is meant to he is my partner" and the money was "maintenance".

She also told officers she had been paying the money back to him in cash.

The investigation showed she had been overpaid £141,461 in income support.

While she initially denied the offences, she pleaded guilty to four charges of making false statements to obtain benefits and a further charge of failing to notify the authorities of a change in her circumstances on the day she was due to stand trial.

The court was told she had paid about £1,000 of the overpayments back.

Sentencing her, Deemster Cook said Higginbotham's partner had been paying more to her than she had suggested to the authorities.