A cancer sufferer had gone into remission by the time he used the names of children he knew to defraud Macmillan Cancer Support of multiple payments which were supposed to be a one-off. Steven Booth, of Milton Road, Ilkeston, had battled cancer for eight years or so and had been ill for a very long time, Nottingham Magistrates' Court heard.
The dad-of-four received a legitimate payment of £350 to help with the extra costs that living with cancer can bring such as energy bills, home adaptions and cost of travel to and from hospital. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the application for grants was usually done on the patients behalf by a health carer.
But when the deadly virus hit, leaving cancer patients more vulnerable and exposed, the system allowed the cancer sufferer to make the application themselves - something Booth took advantage of over and over again. He contacted the charity's welfare rights team on multiple occasions using different names, including those of two children who did not have cancer.
