Crime Solicitors

A married chef who claimed to be single and unable to work because of depression has narrowly escaped jail for a £17,000 benefit fraud.

The Northern Echo reports that William McLuckie claimed £7,894 in incapacity benefit while working – and also fraudulently claimed £9,279 in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Relief from Redcar and Cleveland Council.

On Friday (29/08/14) at Teesside Crown Court, 51-year-old McLuckie of Newcomen Grove in Redcar pleaded guilty to four counts of failing to notify the authorities of a change in his circumstances.

The court heard that McLuckie had been in and out of work because of depression. He said that he could not recall how many weeks he had worked but estimated it might be 22 weeks over a two-year period. The court heard he had worked as a chef at establishments in Reeth and Bainbridge near Richmond in Yorkshire and at Cockermouth in Cumbria.

McLuckie had claimed he was single, but benefit fraud investigators found that his girlfriend – who has since become his wife – lived at his home. Social media revealed photos of the couple at family events and on holiday in Thailand.

However, McLuckie had told benefit fraud investigators that whether he was married or not was nothing to do with them – he only admitted at a subsequent benefit fraud interview that he was married, after investigators produced a copy of his marriage certificate at the interview.

McLuckie’s legal representative told the court:

“When he was working, he was paying tax and National Insurance – and there is no suggestion he was trying to avoid those liabilities.

“There are various periods where he has tried to kid himself that he could work, but he has not been able . . . he was not working throughout this time.”

Judge Tony Briggs gave McLuckie a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years and told him that “It was a close run thing” that he had avoided jail.

The court had heard, however, that McLuckie was now working full-time and was repaying the £17,000 in Incapacity Benefit, Council Tax Relief and Housing Benefit he had claimed.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) classes benefit fraud as theft and a criminal offence. Failing to declare a change in circumstances or intentionally withholding information or providing false information when making a claim can lead to charges of benefit fraud, including not telling the DWP about changes in circumstances relating to:

• living with a partner
• withholding information about savings, property owned – or not submitting the right figures
• children leaving home
• starting work or accruing savings
• inheriting money or property
• going abroad, living abroad, or changing address.

Duncan Lewis Benefit Fraud Solicitors

Duncan Lewis benefit fraud solicitors can advise at any stage of a charge for benefit fraud, including charges relating to:

• Bedroom Tax
• Blue Badge fraud
• Child Tax Credits
• Disability Living Allowance
• Housing Benefit
• Incapacity Benefit
• Income Support
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Pension Credits
• Universal Credit
• Working Tax Credits.

For expert legal advice on benefit fraud, contact Duncan Lewis benefit fraud solicitors on 020 7923 4020.