A MUM-OF-THREE was handed a suspended jail term after admitting 11 offences of benefit fraud spanning five years.
Preston Crown Court heard that Lisa Smith, 32, of Stump Lane, Chorley, netted more than £29,500 in benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions, and Chorley and Preston councils, claiming she was an unemployed single parent.
The court was told that, being a single mum and not working, she had qualified for income support and for full housing and council tax benefits at her old home in Lakeland Gardens, Chorley, and one in Preston.
However, she failed to inform them when she was living with her partner and that he was working.
They also had two children together and had arranged to get married.
Smith was sentenced to seven months in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 250 hours' unpaid work.
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