A CLEANER has been handed a suspended sentence for defrauding more than £30,000 in housing benefit payments.
Pascale Du Bois, 47, of Cusak Road, Springfield, pleaded guilty to two counts of benefit fraud between 2009 and 2013 after failing to tell Chelmsford City Council that her partner and son, 16, were living with her.
Du Bois claimed she was living alone and also claimed employment support allowance.
Alistair Lockhart, representing Chelmsford City Council, said: "She indicated her partner had moved back to Jersey and out of the property and so the housing benefit payment was made on the basis that she was living alone."
Overpayments of £18,584 in housing benefit and £14,721 in employment support allowance were paid to her.
Gavin Burrell, defending, said: "This claim was not made fraudulently from the outset, she doesn't have a great deal of support from her partner and is just focusing on ensuring her son is cared for."
A statement read out by judge Recorder Rex Bryan said: "She feels she was only taking what was rightfully hers. She is a little unhappy that the system doesn't cater for when someone is there and then not there."
Du Bois was given a six month prison term, suspended for two years, 100 hours unpaid work and an £80 victim surcharge.
