No jail for Fife golf caddie who claimed incapacity benefit

A man who claimed incapacity benefit while working as a caddie at a Fife golf club avoided a jail term.

Robert Lothian, 49, East Fort Street, Cellardyke, will perform 225 hours of unpaid work in the community after pleading guilty to having illegally claimed £2,848 of benefits.

He collected incapacity allowance, income support, housing benefit and council tax benefit, while carrying golf bags at Kingsbarns Golf Club. The offences were committed between January 1 2011 and August 20 2011.

Lothian had previously faced trial over three charges brought under the Social Security Administration Act. He changed his plea to guilty moments before proceedings were due to begin, albeit to amended dates on the charges.

At Cupar Sheriff Court solicitor David Bell said his client was repaying the income support and incapacity benefit at £10.70 per week.

Sentencing Lothian, Sheriff Charles Macnair said: “Benefit fraud is easy to commit and hard to detect. This was a substantial sum, almost £3,000 over an eight-month period.

“Having regard to the guideline case, the appropriate penalty is unpaid work as an alternative to custody.”