Two convicted of benefit fraud at Belfast court

Two people were convicted at Belfast Magistrates’ court today for claiming benefits they were not entitled to.

A woman was given 75 hours community service and ordered to pay £31 court costs for duplicate encashment of Income Support totalling £252.

A man was fined £350 and ordered to pay £31 court costs for failure to declare employment while claiming Income Support totalling £8,578.

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

This brings to 96 the total number of successful prosecutions this year.