A former magistrate who stole £27,000 of taxpayers’ money told a judge she couldn’t afford to pay a fine for making conversions to her home that she didn’t have permission for.
Sandra Howell was jailed for nine months at Liverpool Crown Court back in 2018 after it emerged she was working as a cleaner while claiming disability benefits. She was kicked off the bench of Stockport Magistrates' Court after being found guilty of benefit fraud and was back in court today after ignoring an enforcement notice issued by her local council.
Yet despite only being ordered to pay back a fraction of the £25,000 she owes her Stockport Council at a rate of £20 per month, the 50-year-old said she couldn’t afford it. Howell was jailed after claiming thousands of pounds in higher rate Disability Living Allowance while secretly working as a domestic cleaner for various customers.
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