Benefits-fraud mother invented daughter to increase payments
An English mother-of-12 who used her children as a cash cow to extract more than £52,000 (€58,000) in state benefits walked free from court today.
Marrie Louise Freeman, 42, claimed nine of her children and a fictitious daughter were disabled to obtain tax credits.
She pleaded guilty to 10 counts of tax benefit fraud at an earlier hearing. A nine-month sentence, suspended for two years, was imposed.
The court heard Freeman claimed her children, who are aged between 24 and just a few weeks old, had disabilities including diabetes, Down's syndrome, and epilepsy.
One of the claims was made in respect of a fictitious daughter, Kayh Alice Freeman.
Prosecutor Barbara Webster said Freeman phoned the tax credit helpline between September 2004 and November 2007.
She claimed backdated tax credits, saying her children were in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and were entitled to further state help.
Miss Webster said Freeman, of Garstang, Lancashire in England, received an overpayment of £52,705.77 (€58,820.62).
Sergei Prokofiev, defending, said his client had not used the money to fund a luxurious lifestyle but to buy her children clothes.
He said: “She accepts she made the positive but appalling decision to solve their financial difficulties illegally as opposed to legally.”
The court heard the family home was repossessed and her husband, Michael, was made redundant and went on to suffer a debilitating heart attack and may require bypass surgery.
The family currently live in a rented four-bedroom house.
The court heard Freeman lied about the cause of death of her four-month-old daughter, claiming she died from liver failure when in fact she died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
It was also revealed that two of her sons do have mild disabilities; one boy has epilepsy, which is not serious enough to warrant state benefits, and another has a treatable neurological condition.
Judge Rachel Smith said: “Mrs Freeman, this was not a victimless crime, every taxpayer is contributing to the funds available to the state for those who are entitled to additional financial support, including those who care for children with disabilities.
“Recent economic events have reinforced this, there is no bottomless pit of money.”
She said she acknowledged there was no evidence of luxurious living and that the money was used to support a large family.
She also noted that the family lived in “various conditions of deprivation” which had been seriously exacerbated by Mr Freeman’s illness.
She told Freeman: “My decision to suspend the sentence is not to be considered as a mark of leniency.
“The decision to suspend has been reached because of the burden to the state, to the taxpayer, that would be caused by sending you to prison for what would have to be a relatively short sentence.”
Freeman received a nine-month sentence for count one, and 36 week concurrent sentences on the nine other charges, all suspended for two years.
Supervision conditions were also imposed.
Judge Smith told Freeman: “You must not misunderstand how close you came today to being sent to prison.”
