Five convicted of benefit fraud at Belfast court

Five people have been convicted at Belfast Magistrates' Court today for claiming benefits they were not entitled to.

A 25 year old man was given 75 hours community service and ordered to pay court costs of £34 for failure to declare employment while claiming Income Support and Carers Allowance totalling £4,596.

A 56 year old woman was given 100 hours community service and ordered to pay court costs of £46 for failure to declare employment while claiming Job Seekers Allowance, Income Support and Housing Benefit totalling £14,792.

Another woman aged 37 was given a 12 month conditional discharge and ordered to pay court costs of £34 for failure to declare employment while claiming Income Support and Housing Benefit totalling £2,446.

A 23 year old man was given 75 hours community service and ordered to pay court costs of £19 for duplicate encashment of Social Fund and Income Support totalling £274.

A 21 year old woman was fined £200 and ordered to pay court costs of £22 for wrongful encashment of Income Support totalling £149.

All are also required to repay the money wrongfully obtained to the Social Security Agency.

This brings to 275 the total number of successful prosecutions this year.