A young mum with a seriously ill child has been spared a jail sentence for a £17,000 benefits fraud.
Nicola Sweeney lied to the authorities for more than two years, claiming she was a single parent struggling to bring up four children on her own.
But the 27-year-old and her family were actually being supported by her long-term partner Michael Robb, who had a job at the time.
Yesterday, Sweeney, of 56 Greig Court, Aberdeen, appeared at the city’s sheriff court for sentence.
She had previously admitted taking a total of £16,756.37 in income tax, housing benefit and council tax benefit she was not entitled to.
Sheriff William Taylor deferred sentence on the first offender for background reports.
High Court guidelines state that a prison sentence should be mandatory for anyone found to have fraudulently claimed more than £10,000 in state benefits.
However, if “exceptional circumstances” arise then the sheriff is entitled to use his discretion.
Sweeney’s agent, solicitor Christopher Maitland, argued that his client was one of those “exceptional” cases and asked Sheriff Taylor to allow her to keep her liberty so her children would not lose their mum.
The court heard that Sweeney’s youngest son, who is aged just nine months, suffers from spina bifida.
Mr Maitland said that it was the intention of the doctors to operate on the child’s spine at the end of the summer, which would require him to be in hospital for up to a month.
Mr Maitland said that the operation could potentially leave her son paralysed and that if Sweeney was locked up her son would have to go through this difficult time alone.
The court heard that although Sweeney still remained with her partner he had now been made redundant.
Mr Maitland said that Mr Robb did not play a large part in raising the children and the running of the household on a daily basis.
Sheriff Taylor told Sweeney: “I would like you to be under no misapprehension, people who gain public funds to which they are not entitled, which you did for almost two years, can expect to go to prison.”
However, he said that he took into account the circumstances she found herself in and ordered her to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work within the next year.