A WOMAN was given a 40 week suspended prison sentence after falsely claiming £31,174 in benefits.

Fifty-three-year-old Julie Ann Hearn of Hamilton Court, Pembroke Dock, failed to notify the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) or Pembrokeshire County Council (PCC) - or declare on any claim form - that she had inherited a pension paying her £267 per month.

Hearn pleaded guilty to five charges of dishonestly failing to notify the relevant authorities of the change to her circumstances and three charges of dishonestly making a false statement to obtain benefits when she appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates Court on Tuesday (May 10).

Prosecutor Ellie Morgan said between April 2002 and September 2014 Hearn, who suffers from health problems including arthritis and Asthma, had obtained Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, Jobseekers Allowance, council tax benefit and housing benefit without disclosing the change to her finances.

“The evidence shows the defendant failed to declare the pension,” Ms Morgan stated.

“An investigation discovered she has been receiving it since 1992. She omitted that information on each of her claim forms from the outset. She says she thought she only had to declare the pension if it reached a certain amount.”

Mark Layton, defending, said Hearn had made “full and frank admissions” of her wrongdoing following her arrest.

“She didn’t use the money to fund a luxury lifestyle, it’s just been engulfed by her everyday expenses,” Mr Layton explained.

“Her small dog is her main outgoing. She says she just needs enough money to feed her dog and feed herself. There’s no evidence she’s been on holidays to the Caribbean or anything.”

A pre-sentence report found that while Hearn hadn’t been “diagnosed with any mental health issues” she did have “memory problems” and a “tendency to be forgetful”.

The report also said the DWP and PCC were already taking steps to claw back the money from Hearn’s payments, and noted that she “would probably have still been eligible for benefits if she had declared the pension”.

In addition to her prison sentence, Hearn is liable for court costs of £185.