A woman who fraudulently claimed more than £65,000 to fund a lavish lifestyle has been handed a suspended sentence at the Court of General Gaol Delivery.

Deborah Dalgarno, 54, of Ballacriy Park, Colby, had previously pleaded guilty to seven offences dating between April 2010 and May 2019.

The seven charges included five counts of making false representations to obtain benefits and two of failing to inform benefits authorities about changes in her circumstances.

Prosecutor Hazel Carroon told the court that Dalgarno had stated on her benefit forms that her housemate was not her partner. However, in 2018, police received information that they were a couple.

Subsequent investigations of their joint bank account showed that her partner was earning significant sums of money and that Dalgarno had gone on several luxury holidays.

When interviewed by police, Dalgarno stated that she and the other women were just friends. However, this was contradicted by her housemate who said they had been in a relationship for several years.

Mrs Caroon said that further examination of Dalgarno’s Facebook showed her on holidays and on trips to the Calf of Man, Laxey Mines and a lighthouse. During this time, she had told the benefits office she was unable to walk.

Defence advocate Deborah Myerscough said she and her client accepted that the offences are serious and that some planning had been involved, but that they weren’t sophisticated in nature.

Mrs Myerscough added that her client was living with significant mental and physical health difficulties which would make imprisonment very difficult.

She said: ‘I don’t think the prison has the manpower to provide the level of care she currently receives.’

And added that Dalgarno was ‘not the same person who committed these offences’.

The advocate also noted that her client and her partner had paid back some of the money and were continuing to do so at a rate of over £500 a month.

Before going into details, Deemster Graham Cook, acknowledged that Dalgarno is ‘quite clearly’ not a person in good health and said he would not be sending her to prison.

However, it was only because of her health that he was choosing not to do so, telling Dalgarno ‘anyone who steals £65,000 should go to prison’ and that the fact the money was being repaid didn’t make a difference.

Deemster Cook said that given the fraudulent claims spanned several years there had been ‘significant’ levels of planning involved and added that the proceeds had ‘funded what I would describe as a lavish lifestyle’, which included holidays and cruises.

Sentencing her to two years, suspended for two years, Deemster Cook said to Dalgarno: ‘I can only hope that your future life improves, but any further offending, will be seeing me again and you will not receive leniency.’