A fraudulent benefit claimant has less money to repay than he thought after it emerged social security had themselves made incorrect deductions from him, a court has been told.

Joseph Michael Patrick Johnson, of Fairfield Terrace in Douglas, claimed income support and incapacity benefit in February and March this year.

The 54-year-old admitted failing to declare that he had started work again after being off with a knee injury.

A previous hearing was adjourned after the court was unable to determine the precise amount he needed to repay. The prosecution said the total overpayment was £1,200 while Johnson’s advocate said the amount was £1,000, of which he had already paid £100.

At a subsequent hearing, it emerged Johnson had been repaying a previous debt to social security, but they had also been deducting the money from him. As a result, he had already paid them an extra £500. The net result was he owed them a balance of just £314.

Defending Johnson, Paul Rodgers said he had developed a knee problem last October and he had made a legitimate claim for benefit while he was off work recuperating. He said Johnson had been signed off work for four months but had returned to work five weeks early because of financial difficulty.

He said Johnson had ended up borrowing money to tide him over the Christmas period, buying presenst for his seven children, and he had struggled to pay it back.

Magistrates’ chairman Brian Walton fined him a total of £900 for the benefit fraud offences. He must pay a £50 contribution towards prosecution costs. He was also ordered to pay compensation, at £40 per week, amounting to £314 to reimburse the outstanding benefit overpayment.