Cheshire benefits cheat who faked disability to swindle £1m jailed

Christina Pomfrey was described as "staggeringly dishonest" by a judge

A "shameless" benefits cheat who pretended to be disabled and used false identities to fraudulently claim more than £1 million has been jailed.

Christina Pomfrey, of Runcorn, claimed she had multiple sclerosis, was blind and could not dress herself as she swindled the money over 15 years.

At one stage the 65-year-old pretended she was vulnerable after escaping from a community of travellers.

Pomfrey was jailed for three years and eight months at Manchester Crown Court.

She admitted admitted 34 charges including fraud, false accounting and making or supplying articles for use in frauds.

Money laundering

The mother-of-one also admitted laundering £88,994.21 of the money through the bank account of her daughter Aimee Brown, 34.

Brown was given a suspended sentence of 18 months after pleading guilty to money laundering.

Judge Sophie McKone said Pomfrey was "staggeringly dishonest" and guilty of "determined benefit fraud on a substantial scale".

Christina Pomfrey was captured on CCTV shopping

The court heard how at the height of the fraud Pomfrey was claiming £13,000 per month and enjoying holidays, including a trip to Portugal with her husband, clothes and cosmetic treatments.

She used her own name and the name of Christina Brown in falsified documents to claim benefits including incapacity benefit, income support, disability living allowance, housing benefit, and council tax benefit.

Another time she used the name of her husband's former wife who had died in a car accident in 1979.

Family friends used

A Department of Work and Pensions investigation was launched and surveillance recorded Pomfrey driving, going for walks while reading a newspaper, shopping and collecting her grandchildren from school.

It was also discovered Pomfrey had used the details of family friends and relatives to claim they were providing care for her, while they remained unaware.

Following the sentencing hearing, a spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service described Pomfrey as "a shameless, serial fraudster" and said it had been one their largest benefits fraud prosecutions.

He said: "She had no thought for the feelings of the people whose identities she used to make her false claims.

"Her lies became more elaborate as time went on and didn't end even when she was arrested."