A COMPANY director turned cleaner from Burnley who carried out a £31,000 benefits scam has been jailed for 30 weeks.

Ann Bent, 69, had defrauded the Department of Work and Pensions over a eight-year period from April 2006 to April 2014.

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Such frauds have been condemned as ‘morally bankrupt’ by an East Lancashire MP.

Bent was imprisoned by Judge Simon Newell following a hearing at Preston Crown Court, after the consideration of pre-sentence reports.

Prosecutors said that Bent, of Park Cottages, Towneley Park, who admitted failing to notify a change in circumstances for benefit, was the director of an unnamed company for a time.

But defence counsel Keith Harrison told an earlier hearing, at Burnley Crown Court, that she had latterly been a self-employed cleaner.

The court heard that Bent had been claiming just over £4,000 pension credits a year, which worked out at just over £31,000 for the eight years running of the fraud.

Judge Newell said it would have to be taken into account that the fraud had been carried over a significant period of time.

Bent had been due to stand trial over the allegation before entering a late guilty plea, after legal discussions.

The court heard she had previously been the subject of a suspended prison sentence, for an offence of theft from an employer, when she was aged around 38.

“It is not something I could ignore in the circumstances,” said Judge Newell, who told the court that the guideline sentence for such an offence was usually imprisonment of between 12 months and three-and-a-half years.

Mr Harrison said Bent had offered to repay the benefits money to the DWP in full and he had argued that a suspended sentence may be appropriate, given the defendant’s age.

He also told the court that while she may have been co-director of her own firm, it had not been particularly well-managed, through the period of the offending, because of the financial failings of close relatives.

Pension credit offences are one of the few state payment frauds, along with disability living allowance, attendance allowance and child benefit, which may disqualify those caught from further handouts.

Andrew Stephenson, the Conservative MP for Pendle, said: “Any case like this is absolutely shocking.

“It’s a morally bankrupt thing to do and anybody who knows of anybody doing this kind of thing should report it to the government as soon as possible.

“These people are taking money away from genuine claimants who actually need the money.

“They are playing the system for their own gain and the government is taking a lot of steps to stamp this kind of behaviour out.”

Cllr Andrew Newhouse, a Conservative member of Burnley Council, said: “Hopefully this will act as a deterrent to those who commit or want to commit this type of crime.

“More should be done to prevent this from happening but it is very difficult. We want the system to be in place for those who actually need it.”