Luton councillor Hannah Adrees sentenced for benefit fraud

Hannah Adrees, who has been a Luton councillor since 2019, took about £7,500 intended for the personal care of her brain-damaged uncle

A Labour councillor has been given an eight-month suspended sentence after being prosecuted by her own authority for benefit fraud.

Hannah Adrees, 26, who has been a Luton councillor since 2019, pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position relating to an adult social care payment.

Luton Crown Court heard she took about £7,500 intended for the personal care of her brain-damaged uncle.

The council said it "is committed to investigating and prosecuting" fraud.

The court recorder called it a "gross abuse of a position of responsibility".

Howard Cohen suspended the sentence for 18 months with a condition she completed 200 hours of unpaid work.

Having received a suspended sentence for longer than three months, Adrees, of Conway Road in the town, and who represents the Dallow Ward, will now be disqualified as a councillor.

Adrees' uncle suffered brain damage after a heart attack in 2011 and had money paid directly into a bank account, of which the defendant took over management in December 2017.

Hannah Adrees was sentenced at Luton Crown Court

In a prosecution brought by Luton Borough Council, the court heard that the paralegal paid £3,443.80 to fund her studies for a masters degree at the University of Law and took another £2,373 as wage.

She also spent money at Amazon and on a parking ticket.

Prosecutor Andrew Johnson said that between December 2017 and November 2019, £28,000 was paid out.

He said that when Adrees provided receipts and bank statements to demonstrate how the money was being used, "it was blatantly obvious some of the funds were not being used in accordance with the care plan".

"She misused her position as the person authorised to receive the direct personal care payment for her relative," he said.

"She is an elected member of the authority that prosecutes her and was defrauded."

Defence barrister Emma Kutner said Adrees had shown "high levels of remorse" and was "of entirely good character".

"Her chances of being a solicitor or continuing in politics are slim, if not impossible," she said.

Passing sentence, Mr Cohen said: "It was a high-culpability fraud because it persisted over a long period of time and involved a gross abuse of a position of responsibility.

"You used benefits aimed to help vulnerable members of society for your own ends.

"You defrauded the authority and the constituents you were elected to serve."

A council spokeswoman said they would investigate all allegations of fraud "irrespective of the identity of the alleged offender".

"No individual can ever be above the law and we will continue working together with the Shared Anti-Fraud Service in order to protect the public purse and take action against anyone found to be committing criminal offences at the authority's expense," she added.

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