R v Wilkinson
Nigel Booth defended a mother from Kirkby who received a suspended sentence after falsely claiming £84,000 in benefits by failing to reveal she was living with her boyfriend.
Jennifer Wilkinson falsely claimed income support, housing benefit, council tax benefit and Jobseekers’ Allowance over an 11-year period. She admitted four counts of fraud.
The court heard that if she had informed the authorities, she could have legitimately claimed £64,000 in tax credits. Nigel Booth said the actual loss to the taxpayer would therefore have been around £19,000.
Wilkinson received a one year prison sentence which was suspended for 18 months, 12 months’ supervision and 80 hours of unpaid work.
See the news report in the Liverpool Echo.
