Crime Solicitors

A benefits cheat that fled to Southern Spain in 2008 prior to sentencing has been jailed for three years. This has happened just weeks after Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith vowed to deal with the outrageous case.

Seventy-year-old Norman Brennan jumped bail five years ago after admitting to benefit fraud amounting to over £120,000. He was finally tracked down in October by Sky's Crime Correspondent, Martin Brunt. Brennan was living in Malaga at the time.

Brennan, formerly of Netherton on Merseyside, was detained several weeks later on a European arrest warrant before being extradited to Britain. The pensioner made a series of false benefits claims between 2001 and 2008, which included claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in the name of his brother, Leslie and failing to notify authorities about work as a self-employed joiner.

Brennan was finally jailed for two-and-a-half years on Monday after previously admitting seven counts of Jobseeker’s Allowance, council tax and housing benefit fraud in 2008. He was also given a further six-month sentence for skipping bail.

The judge at Liverpool Crown Court said: “You have shown complete and utter disdain and contempt, not only for the welfare state but also the criminal justice system. The message must go out that people who treat the system in this manner have to lose their liberty and for a significant period of time.”

Duncan Lewis' Crime Department includes a team of expert fraud solicitors with extensive experience in areas such as tax and benefit fraud, corruption and advance fee fraud.