Benefit fraudster confesses to failing to inform DWP he was earning money as musician
Income Support like Gray's is set to be folded into Universal Credit by the end of 2024
PA
A benefits cheat has confessed to failing to tell the Department for Work and Pensions he was earning thousands of pounds he was ineligible for.
Stewart Gray, 49, who lives in Onchan on the Isle of Man, had been on Income Support - but neglected to tell the DWP about a side gig as a musician, a court heard.
Between May 8 and September 2, 2023, Gray did not declare that he had undertaken any paid work.
As a result, he was overpaid £1,908 by the DWP, a sum for which he was not eligible, the Isle of Man Courts of Justice heard.
Gray was overpaid £1,908 by the DWP
GettyGray admitted to two counts of making false representations in order to obtain the benefits.
He is currently on a £500 bail with a condition to live at his home address, and is due to be sentenced on October 1.
Income Support - which is set to be folded into Universal Credit by the end of 2024 - is only available to those with no income or a low income, and no more than £16,000 in savings.
His case follows a similar incident of a benefit fraudster failing to disclose that he had acquired £30,000 because it would be "nice to have some money".
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The fraudster will be sentenced at the Isle of Man Courts of Justice on October 1
Isle of Man Courts of Justice/Getty
Brian Thomas Mingins, 58, pleaded guilty to fraud after claiming more than £10,000 in Universal Credit payments.
Prosecutor Glenn Anderton said that at one stage, the DWP uncovered the 58-year-old harboured capital of just over £33,000 which he failed to disclose.
Mingins had claimed he had never enjoyed such an amount before and thought it "would be nice to have some" - but according to Anderton, he "knew he was being dishonest".
Duncan Campbell, defending, said his client - who at the time was caring for his unwell mother - showed genuine remorse for his actions, but Mingins was ordered to complete a 12-month community order with 300 hours of unpaid work.
Though in another case of benefit fraud, a tax office worker who stole over £300,000 of taxpayer cash was made to pay just £1 back.
Tax office worker Tracy Ashbridge claimed three of her children were disabled, and falsified a litany of tax credit claims for 15 other children.
Ashbridge was jailed for six counts of fraud on a suspended sentence, while her accomplice husband Robert was also slapped with the same - but since she had no available assets to pay the six-figure sum, she was told to hand over just £1.
She was ordered to pay more of the stolen cash back if she were to ever come into money in the future.
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