Shropshire Star

Benefits cheat pensioner with gambling habit was overpaid £17,000

A pensioner with a gambling habit was overpaid more than £17,000 in benefits he was not entitled to after failing to declare his wife had found a job.

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Benefits cheat Ronald Bromwich, 66, blamed financial pressures and daily betting during the period for him not telling the authorities about his family’s change in circumstances.

He admitted one offence of dishonesty between February 2014 and December 2015.

The case related to his failure to notify the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that he no longer needed to claim the benefit.

Miss Sara Beddow, prosecuting, said: “This case concerns a married man who claimed more than £17,000 in pension credit that he was not entitled to. He claimed it for himself and his wife during the period October 2012 to December 2015. He had declared that his wife had just stopped working and had filled in the form to that effect. Evidence shows that he promptly failed to declare the change of circumstances afterwards.

“His wife was employed at the Unicorn Inn from February 2014 to January 2015 and had found other work up to December 2015. It was identified that he was fully aware of the rules and during his interview he admitted failing to declare the change.”

Bromwich, of Unicorn Road, Hampton Loade near Bridgnorth at first denied the offence when it was put to him at a previous hearing, but changed it to a guilty plea at Telford Magistrates Court.

Miss Kim Roberts, mitigating, said: “He is very remorseful about what happened. You can see from his income statement that he has got significant debts of £25,000 comprising the £17,000 in overpayments that he is repaying to the DWP plus a further £8,000. He is only getting his state pension.”

The court also heard that Bromwich was placing bets every day at one stage. And that he was repaying the sum at a rate of £233 per month.

He has not worked for almost a decade and suffered a stroke 18 months ago that he has since recovered from.

District Judge Mr Nigel Cadbury sentenced Bromwich to three months jail suspended for 18 months with a requirement to attend 10 rehabilitation activity days with the probation service.

He was also ordered to pay £185 costs and victim surcharge £115.

“At the rate that you are repaying the £17,000 it will take you eight years or so to pay it off and while you’re doing that you are depriving other people who need that money because you have defrauded the DWP in this way,” Mr Cadbury told him.

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