Wednesday 20 March 2019

Make the punishment fit the, er...

From The Daily Mirror:

Helen May, 39, who initially got benefits due to a heart problem she had since the age of 10, failed to tell authorities that her health had improved so much between 2014 and 2017 that she was capable to work in three different places.

The woman was caught cheating the benefit's system when a co-worker at a cafe reported May had recorded 10,000 steps on a single day on her fitness watch.

Appearing at South Cumbria Magistrates Court this week, May was handed a community order and told she must wear an electronic tag for the next 10 weeks.

6 comments:

Lola said...

Damn'. I could have been claiming from age 7 - that's be 60 years of free dosh I've missed out on...

benj said...

10,000 steps is pretty lame. Well within the capabilities of someone with a heart condition.

If they were all up the side of a mountain, that would be different.

James Higham said...

Does it count her steps?

Ralph Musgrave said...

So Helen May takes thousands (or probably more like tens of thousands) off the taxpayer and her "punishment" is to have to wear a tag for a short while.

That's game set and match to Helen May surely? Or have I missed something?

Bayard said...

RM, it was £7K, according to the DM. It doesn't say whether she had to pay all of that back as well, but since she had started paying it back already, then it's quite likely, which would explain the lightness of the sentence.

Mark Wadsworth said...

JH, you're the first one who spotted the irony.