A WOMAN who failed to tell the Social Security Department her income had increased nor that her children got jobs and received more than £36,000 in extra benefits as a result has avoided a jail term.
Victoria Louise Fisher (41) was sentenced in the Royal Court on Friday after admitting four counts of fraudulently receiving income support.
The court heard that she started receiving income support in 2017, and that she declared starting a new job in 2018.
However, between 2019 and 2022 she failed to notify the department about changes to her income on several occasions, which would have drastically altered her entitlements.
The department uncovered this after she did not complete a form and her payments were suspended. An officer could see her contribution records and asked for her salary information, but Fisher “failed to make any contact with the department”, Crown Advocate Carvalho said.
She added that during police interview, Fisher showed that she understood she was obliged to tell the Social Security Department of any changes in her financial circumstances.
She added: “After being presented with evidence, the defendant accepted that she must have failed to inform the department about her change of employment from X to Y or her multiple salary increases. She stated that she had been “really sick” throughout 2022, and this may have contributed towards her failure to inform the department of this change of circumstances.”
In total, Crown Advocate Carvalho said, Fisher had been overpaid £36,261.40.
Advocate Sarah Dale, defending, said she was “extremely remorseful” and that she had been in dealing with a serious health matter, for which she had surgery.
The court was told she had cooperated and made admissions during the investigation.
Advocate Dale added that Fisher was not living a “luxury” lifestyle and her offending was down to “poor financial management”.
“She knows she should have been able to organise herself and not end up receiving more money than she should have done.
“She is extremely remorseful of the situation that she finds herself in but also, she acknowledges the impact that it has on the community,” Advocate Dale said.
Handing down the sentence, the Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, said the court was “prepared to be merciful”.
She was sentenced to 210 hours of community service.
The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, was presiding, with Lieutenant-Bailiff Jane Ronge and Jurat Alison Mary Opfermann.
