A WOMAN who fraudulently claimed nearly £19,000 in benefits has been given a community order.
At Dundee Sheriff Court, Jeanette Robertson, 32, of the city’s William Street, was ordered to carry out 260 hours of unpaid work within the community.
She was given 12 months to complete the work and also placed on a curfew.
The three-month curfew requires her to stay at her home address between the hours of 7pm and 7am daily.
Robertson admitted fraudulently claiming £18,304.09 worth of housing and council tax benefits to which she was not entitled.
She also admitted claiming £1,000 of income support to which she was not entitled.
Robertson committed the offences between January 2010 and September 2012 by claiming she was living alone, when in fact she lived with her then partner, Steven Peat.
The court heard she was living in difficult family circumstances and that Mr Peat was not there all the time and not paying anything towards the household.
Sheriff Lorna Drummond imposed a community-based disposal due to the exceptional circumstances in Robertson’s case, regarding her home life.
Robertson was warned this was a direct alternative to custody and she could be sent to jail if she failed to comply with the order.
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