Physio's tears over fraud

Helen Bentley, 44, received money from the state on the grounds she was paying £90 a week for child care, said Karamjit Singh, prosecuting for the Inland Revenue.

When tax officials checked with the registered child minder she claimed she was using, the child minder denied she was caring for Bentley's two children.

Bentley, of Fairway Drive, Upper Poppleton, pleaded guilty to tax credit fraud, and her solicitor, Philip Crowe, claimed it was accidental.

Magistrates dismissed the excuse and said Bentley had sought to cheat the Inland Revenue. They fined her £350 with £200 prosecution costs.

She handed over a cheque for the full amount she had received illegally during the court hearing.

Mr Singh said the fraud started with her claiming tax credits on February 28, 2003.

For several months, she received the credits including an amount to cover her child care costs. In total, she received £1,029.87 she was not entitled to. She had no previous convictions.

Mr Crowe said she had a permanent job as a physiotherapist at a hospital that meant she was on call at weekends and worked 24-hour stints as necessary. She earned about £18,000 a year.

When she filled in her claim, she was arranging child care for her children, but for some reason the child minder would not take them, said Mr Crowe. By then, the claim process was under way and she later received the money.

Mr Crowe said it was not clear what she had spent it on, but that she had not spent it on child minding. Bentley had suffered following the break-up of relationships, but was now happily married and her husband was standing by her, explained Mr Crowe.

He said Bentley was sorry for what she had done and the months under suspicion had taken their toll on her.

Magistrates said they took into account her early guilty plea and previous good character and the fact she had paid off all the money she had taken.

Updated: 10:54 Saturday, July 30, 2005