A woman has been handed a suspended sentence for a £8,152.44 benefit fraud.

Sarah Louise Molyneux, aged 42, of Oak Avenue, Pulrose, will take about 16 years to pay back the amount at a rate of £10 per week.

Magistrates sentenced her to three months in custody suspended for two years after she pleaded guilty to nine counts of benefit fraud.

We previously reported that Molyneux was receiving income support since January 2017 on the basis that she was a lone parent.

She also claimed Employed Persons Allowance (EPA) at one point.

However, her file was reviewed by Social Security as part of a fraud drive exercise and in June 2018 it was discovered she was working at Heron and Brearley.

The brewery confirmed she was employed as a bar worker.

When interviewed by Social Security she admitted she knew she should have declared she was working and also said she had been working at Mustang Sally for a few weeks but asked the inspector not to approach her employer.

Further investigations found that Molyneux had also done work at B and Q, Tesco, Becky’s Bites and Abbotswood Nursing Home during the time she was claiming benefits.

When interviewed by Social Security again she said: ’It was a way to get straight money-wise. I know it was deception.’

Advocate Ian Kermode said: ’Ms Molyneux’s claim was originally legitimate when she claimed income support in January 2017. But she accepted fully that there were short periods of work with various employers. She knew she should have declared that work to the department but why she didn’t was simply because she was in desperate financial straits. The money was used for food and electricity. She was living with three children and was in debt. It was certainly not spent on luxuries. This was a sad case.

’Her attitude is one of extreme shame. She was extremely embarrassed about telling her family and children what she had done.’

The court heard that Molyneux had a previous conviction in 2008 for a similar offence when she was fined.

Mr Kermode said: ’She is now working full time as a chef in a local hostelry. She is currently repaying the amount but it’s going to take about 16 years at the current rate of £10 per week. But her current financial circumstances are that she is about £8,000 in debt. She is unable to pay more at the moment. Clearly having that debt is going to be a millstone around her neck.’

Magistrates also made Molyneux the subject of a one year suspended sentence supervision order (SSSO) and ordered her to pay £50 prosecution costs.