£14,000 Oswestry benefits fraud case 'was out of desperation'
An Oswestry man who falsely claimed more than £14,000 of benefits has been been ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service.
Nathan Callum Cheesman, 30, of College Road, appeared at Shrewsbury Magistrates Court, where he admitted four charges of making false statements, which allowed him to claim jobseekers allowance, along with housing and council tax benefit.
The charges – which cover a period of just under two years from June 2011 – relate to Cheesman claiming he did not live with his wife who was working at the time.
Mike Phillips, prosecuting said: "The total amount of overpayment is £14,000. There is no application for compensation because the department can claw back the over payment through their own means."
He added: "Housing and council tax benefit were paid to Mr Cheesman on the basis they were living together as man and wife on the basis of their combined low income."
Cheesman told the magistrates: "It was stupid. I committed the offences because we could not afford to live there and it just went from there."
Jamie Wade, for Cheesman, said he had committed the offences because he was desperate, and not to fund a "lavish lifestyle".
He said: "It was just under two years with an over payment of £14,000. He was not using the money to live a lavish lifestyle, it was desperate measures, desperate choices – made wrongly he accepts – but they were mad because he could not cope financially for his family at the time."
Magistrates sentenced Cheesman to serve a 12 month community order with a six month supervision requirement and 200 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £85 prosecution costs.
