A pensioner who jetted off on holiday using her mother’s inheritance while swindling thousands of pounds in benefits has been spared jail.
Sandra Stoddard lied to the Department of Work and Pensions for eight years – claiming she had very little savings to live on.
But the 70-year-old was really sitting on a “pot” of cash left to her when her mum died.
The care worker had promised her mother that the inheritance, worth thousands of pounds, would skip a generation and benefit her children.
But although she gave some of the money to her son, she held on to the rest as her daughter suffers from alcohol problems.
And yesterday, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard that while Stoddard was illegally claiming benefits, she flew off to South Africa for a “therapeutic” holiday with her daughter.
However, medical notes which were shown to the sheriff in court, stated trips abroad had been of benefit to Stoddard as well.
She appeared in court yesterday for sentence having previously admitted fraudulently obtaining £23,033.46 between March 2006 and February 2014.
The court heard the pensioner had been legitimately claiming benefits since the 1990s, but after she received the cash from her mum she failed to declare it to the authorities.
Her agent, solicitor Gregor Kelly, said the first offender had “always lived on the bread line”.
He said she did not have much cash left and had started to repay the state back from her pension
He said: “This is a 70-year-old lady. She does not have a big pot left to live off after defrauding the state and she has always lived on the bread line.
“She has lived off benefits since the 1990s. She has no trappings of wealth and lives hand to mouth.”
The solicitor said that she had so far “made a valiant attempt to repay” the money she took and continued to have £30 deducted from her pension.
Mr Kelly added: “Realistically there is nothing else left to give. The pot is empty.”
The court heard Stoddard, of 153 North Deeside Road, Culter, eventually admitted she had inherited money from her mum when she was asked to attend an interview on February 5, 2014.
Sheriff Richard McFarlane said he was concerned about the “mixed views” she had about her crimes and said it indicated “full well” she knew what she was doing.
High Court guidelines state that anyone who has fraudulently claimed more than £10,000 in benefits could face a custodial sentence unless “exceptional” circumstances can be proved.
But Sheriff McFarlane said as she was held in “high regard” within her community and had no previous convictions, he could deal with her without sending her to jail.
He said: “You are viewed in high regard, being both minded to look after others with your career and thereafter carrying out volunteer work.
“What does concern me is that you received pension credits for eight years. Your attitude in relation to the offence is noted as being that you have mixed views. So that really does make it clear to me that you knew full and well.
“You knew what should have informed them of your inheritance.”
The sheriff said he accepted that the air fares for her holidays would “not have been insignificant” but said: “The time spent abroad was therapeutic.”
He added: “You also paid off some of the money due with a bond that matured, which I’m sure was there to provide you with financial stability in your later years.
“Taking these factors into account there is an alternative to a custodial sentence.”
Stoddard was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work in the community within the next year.