A 77-year-old Douglas pensioner has appeared in court after admitting a benefit fraud worth more than £69,000.

Denis Johnston, of Clarence Terrace, failed to declare property and bank accounts and pleaded guilty to seven counts of the offence.

The case has now been adjourned until October 2 to allow the opportunity for Johnston to repay money before sentencing.

We previously reported how the pensioner was receiving income support benefit since November 2009.

However, in December 2017 information was received suggesting that he owned property in Northern Ireland and had undisclosed bank accounts in the island.

Investigations found undeclared accounts at Santander containing £87,668, HSBC containing £80.601, the Isle of Man Bank containing £24,360, and Ulster Bank in Ireland containing £28,383.

On his most recent court appearance, Johnston was said to have paid back £20,000 of the £69,701 overpayment.

However, on Tuesday, it was said that nothing further had been paid since and Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes queried why Johnston had not made further repayments bearing in mind the size of the accounts which had been discovered.

Defence advocate Paul Glover asked for sentencing to take place in summary court, bearing in mind, his client’s age and that he was not in the best of health.

The advocate said that his client had informed him that a lot of the money was tied up in bonds and investments, which Johnston could not take cash from until August 2019.

But Mrs Hughes said that, if more of the money was paid back, it would have a bearing on whether she accepted jurisdiction, or committed Johnston to the Court of General Gaol Delivery for sentencing.

The Deputy High Bailiff warned Johnston if the same amount remained outstanding she would commit him to the higher court, saying: ’You have defrauded the taxpayers of the Isle of Man of a significant amount of money.’