A Perthshire benefits cheat who was filmed on five kilometre runs after claiming she struggled to walk has had her prison sentence cut by appeal judges.
Former care worker Annette Bond, 50, received a total of £67,062 in benefits to which she was not entitled over a nine-year period before she became a target for fraud investigators.
They filmed her as she ran regular circuits in the area of her home in Stanley.
Bond was jailed for two years earlier this year after she was found guilty after a trial at Perth Sheriff Court of committing benefit fraud between April 1 2009 and November 27 2018.
She failed to report to the Department of Work and Pensions her physical abilities and support she required had changed from what she initially declared in her disability benefit application.
Sheriff William Wood told her that she must have known she did not meet the criteria for the benefits she was receiving.
Sentence cut
Lawyers acting for Bond challenged the length of the sentence and judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh reduced it to 18 months.
Lord Matthews, who heard the appeal with Lord Armstrong, said the appellant was a first offender whose condition appeared to be variable.
He said they were satisfied the sheriff overemphasised what he saw as aggravating features of the case.
Bond’s solicitor advocate Iain Paterson KC told the appeal judges she was originally diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and continued to have underlying health conditions.
Mr Paterson added the claim she made was not fraudulent from the outset.
“There was a requirement for her to go back if her health improved. This was something which she did not do,” he told the court.
He said Bond was initially sent to prison in Stirling but had faced difficulties there because of her health conditions and has since been transferred to a centre in Dundee.
Bond followed the sentencing appeal proceedings from the Bella Centre on a TV link to court as she sat with a walking stick.
For more local court content visit our page or join us on Facebook.
