A WOMAN who lied about her earnings to fraudulently claim more than £16,500 in benefits has been spared prison so she can continue caring for her teenage son.

Maria Paula Nunes Jardim (55) was ordered to repay what she owed and handed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years in the Royal Court on Friday.

If she commits another offence punishable by imprisonment during that period, she will be made to serve the sentence at La Moye – a consequence which her lawyer said would “hang over her” and require her to “stay out of trouble”.

The court heard that Jardim had not used the money to fund a “lavish lifestyle”, but could not point to any “significant financial pressure” beyond ordinary living costs to explain her offending.

The Madeira-born woman cried throughout the hearing, at times sobbing so heavily that her laboured breathing could be heard from the back of the public gallery.

Crown Advocate Carla Carvalho, prosecuting, said Jardim’s Income Support claim had initially been legitimate.

However, it became dishonest after she opened a Revolut account in July 2023 and failed to declare either the account or the earnings paid into it.

Jardim had received 63 letters reminding her to report changes to her income, employment and bank accounts.

She told a government employment adviser that she had an “opportunity to take over a cleaning commercial business”.

Jardim later claimed she was helping a friend but was not being paid, despite having received income for about three months.

When another adviser asked about her finances, Jardim said she only used a NatWest account and failed to disclose the Revolut account.

Its existence was uncovered after her former partner supplied bank statements showing payments made in Jardim’s name.

The account received £16,574 from four sources, including cleaning, nursery and hospitality work. None of the earnings was declared.

Advocate Carvalho said Jardim later claimed that the owner of the cleaning company had helped her open the Revolut account and told her “not to tell anybody”.

When investigators asked whether she knew that concealing it was wrong, she replied: “Yes, I did actually… I admit I screwed up.”

Jardim also admitted lying to employment advisers, saying: “I lied to protect myself because I was afraid, because I guess, deep down, I knew I was… screwing up.”

She added: “I did the wrong thing. I should have done the right thing.”

Advocate James Bell, defending, said she had repaid £2,900 through deductions from her benefits, and there was no evidence that she had lived a “lavish lifestyle”.

The court heard that she had completed only 35 hours of a previous 140-hour community-service order imposed for failing to provide a breath specimen.

Jardim’s absences were accepted as being linked to health problems, but she was no longer considered fit to complete the order.

A Portuguese interpreter sat beside Jardim in court and kept a hand on her shoulder as she cried.

The court briefly adjourned after Advocate Bell said Jardim needed time to “get her breath back”, while members of her family gathered around her.

Delivering the sentence, Bailiff Robert MacRae, presiding, said the fraud was “more than a single omission” and involved “repeated decisions” to withhold information and maintain the deception over 14 months.

“You are cheating everyone in the community by taking money to which you are not entitled,” he told Jardim.

The Bailiff said the money “could have gone to people entitled to help” and that Jardim had shown “limited insight” into the damage caused to public confidence in the benefit system.

Mr MacRae acknowledged that imprisonment would affect her son, who had no relatives able to provide him with care or accommodation.

However, he told Jardim: “You should have thought about his interests before you began offending in this way.”

Jardim left the courtroom after becoming distressed, and Advocate Bell said he would later explain the full sentence to her.

She received 12 months for the benefit fraud and a further six months for breaching the community-service order. Both terms were suspended for two years.

The Bailiff was sitting with Jurats Karen Dawn Le Cornu and Donald Christopher Gardener.