Benefits cheat jailed for £33,000 false disability claims

Ann Hooper was assessed for disability benefits just before she was filmed by investigators

A benefits cheat who was filmed going shopping despite claiming she was "too disabled to move" has been jailed.

Ann Hooper, 49, fraudulently claimed £33,000 in disability benefits for herself and her two adult sons.

A surveillance operation caught her at a supermarket in Axminster, Devon, while one of her children was filmed lifting heavy weights.

At Exeter Crown Court, judge Timothy Rose said Hooper had told "ridiculous" lies as he jailed her for nine months.

During a trial, jurors heard the family had all claimed disability or personal independence benefits for three years until they were caught.

Hooper had told nurses her mobility was so bad she could walk no more than 20m (67ft) without the aid of a stick.

However, in the days before and after the home assessment of her level of disability, Department for Work and Pensions investigators secretly filmed her at the supermarket.

The court was also told Hooper had claimed her two boys were unable to get out of wheelchairs.

But jurors heard one was seen walking a mile without a stick, and the other went on two adventure holidays to Canada.

The court was shown videos of the brothers, with one seen weightlifting at a gym, and the other, aged 23, walking around a showground for more than an hour with only a mild limp.

'You lied extravagantly'

Hooper, of Bonners Glen, Axminster, was found guilty of three counts of benefit fraud last month.

She had told jurors the claims were genuine and her boys had been testing their ability to endure pain when they were filmed.

Sentencing her, Judge Rose said her claims were "were demonstrably untrue".

"You proceeded to lie throughout the trial as if you were ignoring the reality of the situation. You lied extravagantly to the jury. It was ridiculous."

Barry White, defending, said all three had some genuine disabilities and would have been entitled to some benefits, if not those they had actually claimed.