A repeat benefits cheat was yesterday spared jail.

Julie Elizabeth Corlett appeared in court on Wednesday after claiming £37,000 to which she wasn’t entitled.

In 2019 she was convicted of fraudulently claiming £39,000 in a separate case.

This week the 56-year-old was handed a 12-month sentence suspended for 18 months by the Court of General Gaol Delivery.

Corlett was sentenced for one count of knowingly failing to give false notice of a change in circumstances and one count of false representation. She pleaded guilty to both counts.

The court heard that, between June 24, 2018, and November 5, 2022, she failed to declare that her partner was in receipt of an occupational pension from the Isle of Man government and had three bank accounts with Lloyds Bank.

Prosecution advocate Rebecca Cubbon said that, at one point, Corlett’s partner had more than £20,000 in one of his accounts.

Ms Cubbon also said that Corlett, of Lord Street, Douglas, dishonestly made a false representation with a view to obtaining benefits by failing to declare that her partner was in receipt of a government pension.

The court heard that it was November 5 when Corlett filled in a review form and included her partner’s income when the offences came to light.

Ms Cubbon said that processing such review forms, which assess the eligibility of claimants, had been suspended during the pandemic.

The form the offender filled out in November last year was the first since she had made her initial claim in 2018.

A subsequent investigation by social security staff found that Corlett’s partner, with whom she lives, was receiving pension payments.

Corlett has a previous conviction for benefit fraud. In 2019 she was sentenced after fraudulently obtaining £39,000.

Deemster Graham Cook said that her 2019 sentencing should have acted as a reminder to her to inform Treasury of her partner’s financial position.

However, he said that if she had been dishonest in that review form, she would have been sent straight to prison.

Defence advocate Jane Gray said that Corlett had no income as she does not want to end up back in the court, and was reliant on the income of her partner for whom she acted as a carer.

In his closing remarks, Deemster Cook said: ‘Benefit fraud is a serious offence.’

He added that Corlett was fortunate in 2019 to get community service rather than a heavier sentence.

He said that, due to her age and poor physical and mental health, he would suspend her sentence.