Hertfordshire fraud fugitive Frances Noble may have died, court hears

Frances Noble (left), pictured with fellow convict daughter Laura Borrell, had lied to Hertfordshire County Council about her health

A 66-year-old woman who has been on the run after being convicted of fraud might have died, a court heard.

Frances Noble fled to Berlin before she was sentenced for the £624,000 fraud on Hertfordshire County Council.

She was jailed in her absence for four years and nine months in June.

Extradition proceedings to bring Noble back to the UK began last month, but a proceeds of crime hearing at St Albans Crown Court was adjourned for evidence of her death to be produced.

The court previously heard Noble, who was living at Damask Green Road, Weston, had lied about her health for more than a decade.

At the hearing in June, Judge Richard Foster described the case as "possibly the largest fraud of its type to come before the English courts".

The court was told that between 2005 and 2018, Noble convinced the council that a fake neurological condition was so serious that she required intensive home care at her bungalow.

However, it was told she was seen by neighbours walking her dog Bertie and investigators watched as she took in a Tesco home delivery, which she was able to unpack.

Noble's daughter and son-in-law, Laura and Philip Borrell, were jailed for their part in the fraud

Her care package was passed to her daughter and son-in-law, who then went on a number of foreign holidays using the proceeds.

Over a 13-year period, Noble obtained £624,047.15.

Noble, who moved to Germany when a police investigation began in 2019, had admitted fraud by false representation.

She was sentenced along with her daughter and son-in-law, Laura and Philip Borrell, for their part in the fraud.

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Laura Borrell, 45, was jailed for three years and nine months and Philip Borrell, 47, was jailed for four years and three months.

Philip Borrell, held at The Mount Prison near Hemel Hempstead, was also due to appear in court for the proceeds of crime hearing but he refused to leave the prison.

His wife, who is serving her sentence at Peterborough jail, is due in court on Thursday for a similar hearing.