Man in £48,000 fiddle avoids jail to care for wife

Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday John Starr began claiming incapacity benefit in 2001 after suffering from deep vein thrombosis in his right leg and later diabetes.

A year later he began working as an assembly operator, making parts for jukeboxes, but never reported his change in circumstances then or when he also began claiming income support and housing and council tax benefit.

Laura Addy, prosecuting, said through his eight years of dishonesty Starr was overpaid £48,574. When he was interviewed last year he maintained it was not done out of greed and “I still haven’t got a penny.”

Robin Frieze, for Starr, said he realised his jeopardy but his wife had suffered a stroke and was now registered blind and he was her primary carer.

Starr, 59 of Beech Crescent, Gipton, Leeds was given a 12 months prison sentence suspended for two years with 200 hours unpaid work.

Sentencing him, Judge Kerry Macgill said the system was built on trust.

He added: “That trust is because you are getting money from the rest of society and you are expected to be honest.”

The judge told Starr he was only being saved from an immediate jail sentence because he was his wife’s permanent carer.