A 32-year-old woman has admitted five counts of benefit fraud which resulted in her being paid £23,871 she was not entitled to.

Elizabeth Ann Edge failed to declare money she was regularly receiving from a man she met online called Charles.

She will be sentenced on January 25 after a probation report has been completed.

Prosecuting advocate Rebecca Cubbon told the court that Edge started claiming income support benefit in December 2016.

Her claim was not initially fraudulent.

In June 2020, anonymous information was received by the Department of Health and Social Care that Edge, who lives at Heather Crescent in Douglas, was receiving around £1,000 per month which she was not declaring.

The department gained access to her bank account which confirmed the regular payments. Edge was interviewed at Markwell House and confirmed that she understood she had to declare any earnings.

When quizzed about her bank statements and asked why she had not declared the amounts, Edge said: ’Cos I believe in privacy.’

She claimed that ’everyone was doing it’, and when asked if it bothered her, she replied: ’Not really, no.’

The prosecution allege that Edge received £37,800 over three years which she had not declared but this is disputed by Edge, who says it was £24,000.

Defence advocate Ian Kermode entered a basis of plea for his client in which Edge said that she had befriended a man online called Charles who had offered to help her when she said that she was struggling financially.

He initially sent her £700 then regular payments of £1,000.

Mr Kermode said that Edge had been struggling with anxiety and depression and that all the money from Charles had been spent on living expenses.

The advocate asked for a probation report before sentencing. High Bailiff Jayne Hughes ordered that the report consider all sentencing options, including custody.

Bail was granted with conditions to live at home, contact probation, and not leave the island without court permission.