A CREWE woman has been convicted of dishonestly obtaining nearly £4,000 in benefits from Cheshire East Council after it was discovered that her landlord was her partner.

Laura Paulden, 27, of Vincent Street, received housing and council tax benefit after she claimed she had started maternity leave, as single mum, on a low income.

Following an investigation by Cheshire East Council benefits fraud team it was discovered that Paulden was in a relationship with her landlord during the seventeen months she had been fraudulently claiming the benefits.

Paulden’s ‘landlord’ is also the father of her two children.

The court heard that Paulden received payments of £3,866 between May 2011 and October 2012.

On February 9, at South and East Cheshire Magistrates Court, Paulden pleaded guilty to the offence of dishonestly making a false application to unlawfully obtain housing benefit and council tax benefit.

The court ordered Paulden to repay the overpaid benefits with a community order to undertake 240 hours unpaid work.

She was also told to pay a victim surcharge of £60.

Cllr Peter Raynes, Cheshire East Council’s Cabinet member in charge of finance, said: “Benefit fraud will not be tolerated by this authority.

“We are an enforcing council and committed to ensuring such offenders are brought to justice.

“This case shows that cheating the system leaves perpetrators much worse off.

“We proactively investigate cases like this to prevent fraudsters taking money away from those really need help.”

If you think someone is committing benefit fraud you can ring the confidential freephone fraud hotline on 0800 389 2787.

You can also report suspected fraud via the Council’s website at www.cheshireeast.gov.uk