Mum who fraudulently claimed over £36k in benefits 'surprised by amount'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A mum who fraudulently claimed thousands in benefits after her children were put into social care said she was 'surprised' by the amount.Danielle Muirhead scammed the government out of over £36,000 over a five year period after she failed to disclose to the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that she was no longer the primary carer for her children.The 32-year-old continued to claim Universal Credit, Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit after her two youngest children were taken into care on March 29, 2018, the Liverpool Echo reports.On Thursday, Liverpool Crown Court heard that Muirhead saw an opportunity to make a gain for herself and the activity was "something Muirhead knew to be fraudulent".Muirhead claimed £19,234 in Universal Credit, £9,258 in Child Benefit and £8,602 in Child Tax Credit for a total of over £36,000.On at least two occasions, she requested additional help with her children's clothing despite not being their primary carer.

Police were notified when the DWP eventually caught onto Muirhead's scheme.Ms Maxwell told the court the defendant's criminality was "sustained over a significant period of time", with the fraudulent activity going on for five years and one month. Join the Daily Record's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages. The court heard Muirhead had 12 previous convictions for 12 offences dating back to 2006, including charges of burglary and production of cannabis.Ms Maxwell said: "The defendant has shown repeated failure to comply with court orders", with six recorded breaches listed between 2007 and 2022.She added the prosecution had been contacted by the Probation Service regarding a further breach this year and were awaiting the outcome