A BENEFITS cheat who squirreled away £50,000 in his bank account while claiming income support has been spared a jail term.

Neil Graham Gover, 43, of Bellhouse Way, Foxwood Lane, York, walked free after a York Magistrates Court heard he was saving the money for his children and his father, who is terminally ill.

Gover pleaded guilty at a previous hearing to one count of lying about his income and two counts of making a false statement.

Over a total period of three and a half years, he claimed £14,650.60 he was not entitled to. The court was told Gover had been on income support since 1998.

Following a split with his long-term partner, he received a lump sum of £50,000, which he failed to declare to the Department of Work and Pensions.

The money was placed into a bank account and an ISA.

In 2003, he came off income support, but the following year failed to declare the cash when he began claiming again.

In February last year, during a review he again failed to tell income support officers of his change in circumstances.

Stephen Brown, prosecuting, said Gover's explanation was that it had been an oversight and the money was being invested for the two sons he had with his former partner.

Mitigating, Helen Morris said Gover's father had only a few weeks to live and that Gover has a son with learning difficulties who lives with him.

She said that both matters were so exceptional they should preclude a prison sentence.

She added when Gover came into the money he was advised to deposit it in an account in his name.

It was only later he realised he should have opened accounts in the names of his sons to be held in trust for them.

Magistrates also heard he had not led an extravagant life - there were no "fast cars" and he was not "out every night boozing".

Gover was sentenced to three months in prison for each count of making a false statement, plus three months consecutive for lying about his income to be suspended for one year.

He was also ordered to pay back £14,650.60, complete 300 hours of community work and pay prosecution costs of £250.

He was also handed a 12-month supervision order with the probation service.

Speaking after the case, James Plaskitt, fraud minister at the Department for Work and Pensions, said: "This was fraud on a 50 grand scale.

"Benefit cheats should know we are tracking them down and when we discover them they face prosecution and a criminal record."