Mother of Three Who Claimed £120,000 in Benefits She Wasn’t Entitled to Avoids Prison After Her Lawyer Told the Judge What She Did With the Money

Casey Webb, a 45-year-old mother of three, has avoided going to prison after admitting to claiming more than £120,000 in benefits she was not entitled to receive over a period of almost 14 years.

The court heard that between November 2011 and March 2025, Webb falsely claimed a total of £108,937 in Housing Benefit and £11,238 in Universal Credit. According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), she used fake tenancy agreements and forged rent receipts to make it appear that she was renting a separate annex from her parents’ landlord. However, investigators found no evidence that she had ever paid rent, and the landlord confirmed that the documents were not genuine.

The money she received was funded by taxpayers, but the court was told it was not spent on an expensive or luxurious lifestyle. Instead, her lawyer argued that most of the money went toward raising her children and giving them a slightly better life. He said there were no luxury cars, expensive holidays, or designer clothes. Instead, the money was mainly used for everyday family expenses, with the children occasionally being treated to cinema trips or takeaways.

Her defence also pointed out that Webb had never been in trouble with the law before. At 45 years old, she had no previous criminal convictions, not even for minor driving or parking offences. The court also heard that she plays an important role in caring for her mother.

Although Webb first denied two counts of fraud by false representation, she later changed her plea and admitted the offences.

During sentencing at Colchester Crown Court, Recorder Edward Renvoize described the fraud as serious, deliberate, and carefully planned over many years. He warned Webb that she came very close to being sent to prison and told her she might not fully realise how serious her actions had been.

The judge accepted that the money was not used to fund a lavish lifestyle but instead helped provide her children with a slightly better standard of living than they otherwise would have had. He also said he believed she posed a low risk of committing similar offences in the future.

Instead of sending her to prison immediately, the judge handed Webb a 32-month prison sentence suspended for three years. This means she will not go to prison unless she commits another offence or breaks the conditions of her suspended sentence during that period. She was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and 30 days of rehabilitation activities.

After leaving the courtroom, Webb smiled, hugged a loved one, and lit a cigarette outside the court building.

Following the case, Transformation Minister Andrew Western issued a warning to anyone thinking of committing benefit fraud. He said people should not believe they can steal money from hardworking taxpayers because investigators are experienced at uncovering fraudulent claims. He added that anyone who knows someone abusing the benefits system should report it, stressing that benefit fraud will continue to be investigated and prosecuted.