Single mum became “entangled in complex benefits system”

It’s been reported in The Western Telegraph that Magistrates handed down 50 hours of unpaid work and £100 costs yesterday (Monday) to a Haverfordwest single mum who had been overpaid £5,261 in benefits.

Emily Jane Ardran, of St Marks Close, had previously pleaded guilty to failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that her partner, Brian Kelly, had moved in with her in April 2009.

She did not tell the department until October 2009 that Mr Kelly was living at her home. In the months prior to that she had been overpaid £2302 income support; £2572 housing benefit and £386 council tax.

David Lloyd, defending, read from a Western Telegraph article about the previous hearing. Saying that 37-year-old Ardran lived a meagre lifestyle and when Mr Kelly first moved in it was a “charitable act” on his client’s part.

He said that Ardran had become “entangled in the complexities of the benefit system”, adding that she was of clean character and paying the money back.

After considering a pre-sentence report magistrates ordered Ardran to complete the unpaid work as soon as possible.

“The sooner you can get them done the sooner they can be cleared,” they said. “This draws a line under the matter.”

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