£80k Tamworth benefit fraudster avoids jail

A woman who falsely claimed £65,000 in disability payments has been given an 18-month suspended prison sentence.

Linda Hoey, 58, from Tamworth in Staffordshire, claimed she could barely walk due to degenerative arthritis and a back problem.

But Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) investigators found photographs of her snorkelling in the Maldives and riding a quad bike.

The mother also used her disability car to avoid £15,000 of M6 Toll charges.

She was convicted of benefit fraud after a trial at Stafford Crown Court in July.