A man who illegally claimed more than £10,000 in Universal Benefit Credit was purposefully “dishonest” because he thought it would be “nice to have some money”.
Brian Thomas Mingins, 58, pleaded guilty to benefit fraud after he failed to disclose that he had acquired £30,000.
Carlisle’s Rickergate Court heard that the defendant did not tell the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that a change of circumstances affected his benefits entitlement between July 2020 and May 2023.
Prosecutor Glenn Anderton said the DWP discovered that Mingins was continuing to claim Universal Credit despite his savings rising about the allowed £6,000 when he received numerous payments which he failed to declare.
A Universal Credit benefits cheat, who claimed more than £10,000 was deliberately 'dishonest' because he thought it would be 'nice to have some money'
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Some of these payments were “of quite large amounts” which took him “way over the threshold”, Anderton said.
The total amount overpaid was £10,673, the court heard.
“At one stage, he had capital of just over £33,000 which he did not disclose,” Anderton said.
Whilst Mingins claimed that he had never had money before and thought it “would be nice to have some”, the prosecutor claimed that Mingins “knew he was being dishonest”.
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Duncan Campbell, defending, said: “This wasn’t a fraudulent claim from the outset. The claim was properly made. We’re dealing with a failure to notify changes. It started with a pension payment from an insurance company.”
He said his client, who at the time was caring for his unwell mother, showed genuine remorse for his actions and has already been made to repay the overpaid benefit.
Mingins must complete a 12-month community order with 300 hours of unpaid work.
He must also pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
Mingins continued to claim Universal Credit despite his savings rising about the allowed £6,000
PAEarlier this month, a 57-year-old benefits cheat spent almost £10,000 of taxpayer cash when he failed to disclose to the DWP about receiving £100,000 from his mother.
The six-figure windfall ruled him out of benefit eligibility, but he continued to splash out money on new cars and trips abroad.
Vincent Connelly, who had taken £9,400 of housing and income support over 14 months, claimed that he tried to contact his local authority about the change in circumstances, but was left waiting on hold for over an hour.
He pleaded guilty to knowingly failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions after a change in his circumstances meant his capital was in excess of £16,000.
