A Newcastle mother-of-six has been sent to prison after she admitted to fraudulently pocketing more than £100,000 in benefits she wasn’t entitled to receive.
Nicola Jewers, 43, from Chapel House Road, carried out the scam over an eight-year period by hiding the fact that her partner was living with her.
The court heard she pleaded guilty to three counts of benefit fraud connected to Employment and Support Allowance, Universal Credit and Housing Benefit between 2016 and 2024.
She’s now been handed a 33-month prison sentence for her crimes.
In total, Jewers received overpayments amounting to £104,668 across the three benefits.
The biggest chunk came from Employment and Support Allowance, where she pocketed £64,294 she wasn’t entitled to.
On top of that, she claimed £28,874 in Universal Credit and £11,500 in Housing Benefit.
The fraud worked because Jewers falsely told authorities she was living on her own, when in reality her partner had been residing with her throughout the entire period.
Nicola Jewers was sentenced to 33 months at Newcastle Crown Court
|
GOOGLEBy ticking boxes claiming single status, she unlawfully accessed public funds for years before investigators finally caught up with her deception.
Recorder Geoffrey Pritchard KC made clear this wasn’t simply an oversight when he sentenced her.
He said: “The offences took place over an extended period of time. It arises from a failure to declare a change of circumstances which you were duty-bound to make to the benefit fraud granting powers. This result from an act of dishonesty, not omission.”
It turns out this wasn’t Jewers’ first brush with the law over benefits either.
Back in 2010, she was convicted of a similar offence after failing to report changes that affected what she was entitled to claim, receiving a conditional discharge on that occasion.
Her defence lawyer Tony Cornberg argued there were mitigating factors the court should consider.
“There wasn’t a box for him living there sometimes and working away and them being on and off,” he explained. “There’s been a bit of head in the sand here, a bit of ‘it will all go away’.”
He told the court Jewers is currently repaying £100 monthly and is working to improve her situation, adding that she has three dependent children and has shown genuine remorse.
Mr Cornberg also suggested she may have been entitled to at least some of the money she received.
Following the initial hearing, the sentence was reduced from three years to 33 months on Friday.