Benefits crook taxi driver who stole £57,000 walks free from court¿ after paying back every penny

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Benefits crook taxi driver who stole £57,000 walks free from court¿ after paying back every penny

February 29th, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

Mair Lellicott, 53, brought cheque to court for remaining £53,000
She claimed she was unable to work – but had been earning £25,000 per year as cab driver

By
Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 12:05 AM on 29th February 2012

Escaped jail: Mair Lelliott, 53, paid back all £57,000 that she claimed

A woman taxi driver who fiddled £57,000 in benefits walked free from court yesterday after handing over a cheque to repay the cash.

Mair Lelliott, 53, had already paid back £4,000. So when she arrived at court with a cheque for the remaining £53,000 she was told that her action had saved her from 12 months in jail.

Recorder Nicola Jones said: ‘I have been impressed by your eagerness to pay back the money.’

Lelliott claimed carer’s allowance, income support, council tax relief and incapacity benefit, and said a shoulder injury stopped her driving.

But Department for Work and Pensions investigators found the Swansea taxi driver had been working since 2001, earning £25,000 a year.

She admitted 12 charges at Swansea Crown Court and was sentenced to 51 weeks’ jail suspended for two years, a 12-month supervision order and 100 hours’ community service.

Georgina Buckley, defending, said she ‘accepted full responsibility and was extremely remorseful.’

She was let off jail after she came to court with a cheque for the cash she had scammed – on top of £4,000 she already paid.

Judge Nicholas Jones told her had avoided a stint behind bars because the full amount had been repaid.

She
said: ‘Normally, someone who has stolen so much money from the state
would be looking at a prison sentence to the tune of 12 months.

‘But I have been impressed by your early guilty plea and your eagerness to pay back the money that you claimed.’

Freed: Lelliott, 53, arrived at Swansea Crown Court with a cheque for £53,000 to cover the rest of the money she had fiddled in benefits

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Can I borrow a few grand interest free PLEASE

– John, Norwich UK, 29/2/2012 06:34

WOW ! That’s a first ! But 12 months out in 6 would have been far to lenient a sentence !

– Stephen J Cole, Hitchin , Hertfordshire, 29/2/2012 06:28

So, she paid it back? But she wouldn’t have done, had she not been caught. She should have got locked up for 4 years as well.

– John W, Wiltshire, 29/2/2012 04:30

So ,you CAN BUY YOUR WAY out of criminal charges?

– mike p, melbourne.australia, 29/2/2012 03:37

It takes 11 years to detect her and then she buys her way out of jail/ where is the deterrent to others who steal taxpayers money/ Where is the punishment and why no charge for interest? Welcome to lawless Britain.

– ken, belfast N. Ireland, 29/2/2012 03:20

Is this how justice works now. If you get caught and pay it back you get let off,if you don’t get caught you get to keep the loot.mind you it’s only fair,that’s what happened with most of the fiddling MPs !

– Phil, Dorset, 29/2/2012 02:20

Well if she paid back every penny then fair enough, but are they sure its 57k and not more? Many people may not like the fact that she wasn’t jailed, but saves space in prison to put murderers or rapists in. Its one way to look at it, I’d rather have murderers and rapists in jail than on the streets.

– Chris, Sunderland, UK, 29/2/2012 01:56

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