A WOMAN has been convicted of receiving £83,000 of income support payments illegally by lying about living alone, after being incriminated by her own social-media posts.
Georgina Mason (39) denied one charge of failing to declare a change in circumstances to the Social Security Department, and two charges of knowingly giving false information with intent to obtain an award, all between September 2018 and October 2021.
But after less than one hour of deliberating, Jurats found her guilty on all three counts.
Mason failed to declare that her boyfriend had moved in with her and continued to receive income support by claiming she was single, Crown Advocate Luke Sette, prosecuting, told the court on the opening day of the three-day trial.
Mason told Customer and Local Services that she lived separately from her partner and that they had separated after the birth of their daughter in July 2019, but Jurats were shown a number of Facebook and Instagram posts, shared publicly, picturing the defendant together with her partner and their child.
Social media showed the couple operating as “a family unit”, Advocate Sette said, with captions such as “true love does exist”, hearts and references to being engaged to be married appearing in posts.
Referring to a post showing a homemade fondue pot, Advocate Sette said: “That looks like a romantic moment.”
Ms Mason laughed and responded: “No, it was just an oil burner.”
Giving evidence yesterday, Mason claimed that they were never in “a proper relationship”.
Cross-examining Mason, Advocate Sette asked whether she was painting a false picture with her posts, to which she replied: “That’s what social media is. It’s what you want to paint to the world.”
Advocate James Bell, defending, argued that the evidence presented by the prosecution was circumstantial and not enough to determine Mason’s guilt, but Jurats ultimately disagreed.
Lieutenant Bailiff Jane Ronge and David Le Heuzé were sitting. Deputy Bailiff Robert MacRae was presiding.
Mason was remanded on bail until 5 February for sentencing.
