A benefits fraudster who faked a cancer diagnosis managed to swindle £70,000 after claiming she had just six months to live.
Sarah Yarwood, 39, used fake hospital letters to support her lies and claimed she was single and living alone, when in fact she resided with her partner.
The facade lasted six years, between 2017 and 2023, Preston Crown Court heard, which saw her claim to police she was “riddled” with cancer, among other illnesses, such as multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease.
Sentencing her to three years and nine months behind bars, Judge Michael Maher described Yarwood’s lies as “grotesque” and “relentless”.
The judge added “human sympathy” played a part in Yarwood’s deceit and exploitation, though said she had “milked the system” and described her as a “thoroughly unscrupulous individual”.
Yarwood, from Cleveleys, Lancashire, received personal independent payments (PIP) of £27,998 and universal credit (UC) payments of £42,157, Eleanor Brambell, prosecuting, said.
Records at the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) showed she made claims under the falsehood she had “terminal cancer”.
Ms Bambell added that Yarwood claimed her bone cancer had “spread to her liver”, and she had undergone chemotherapy, but it was terminal.
She also said that her multiple sclerosis had been misdiagnosed and was in fact Parkinson’s disease.
A benefits fraudster who faked a cancer diagnosis managed to swindle £70,000 after claiming she had just six months to live
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PA“I am in pain all day, every day with my terminal illness,” one benefit application read.
Yarwood continued to claim that her cancer stopped her from leaving the house and she struggled to lift her arms or even put her own socks on.
In October, 2017, she phoned a PIP claim line to seek payments under “special rules” – circumstances that only apply to those who have a “terminal prognosis and are expected to live less than six months.”
The court also heard that she made Universal Credit claims on the basis she was living alone – though council records show she was living with her partner, Ian Whittaker, at the time.
Sarah Yarwood was sentenced to three years and nine months at Preston Crown Court
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PAAnd when the authorities became suspicious, Yardwood’s web of lies deepened: she provided 10 fraudulent letters relating to her “cancer diagnosis”.
Niamh Ingham, defending, said Yarwood had been the victim of sexual and domestic abuse as a child, and had been diagnosed with “complex PTSD”.
“She does wish to convey her remorse for her actions,” Ms Ingham said. “And cites her health as the reason for this conduct.”
Yarwood pleaded guilty to two charges of fraud by false representation and one charge of making or supplying an article for use in fraud at an earlier hearing.
She has only paid back £1,196 of the money she fraudulently claimed, the court heard, and is now £30,000 in debt.
Judge Mahor said: “As serious as this undoubtedly was, it’s eclipsed by your grotesque lies you told about your terminal illness and the bogus medical letters you created in order to secure PIP payments.
“One of the startling features of this fraud is the sheer relentlessness of it.
“And the detail you leave, layer upon layer, in relation to your phoney illnesses.”