Universal Credit benefits cheat illegally claims £10,600 because 'it would be nice to have money'

A Universal Credit benefits cheat was deliberately "dishonest" because he thought it would be "nice to have some money", a court heard. Brian Thomas Mingins, 58, pleaded guilty to benefit fraud after he illegally claimed more than £10,000 in Universal Credit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

He did not tell that a change of circumstances affected his benefits entitlement between July 2020 and May 2023. Rickergate Court, situated in the North East of England in Carlisle, heard the DWP discovered that Mingins was continuing to claim Universal Credit despite his savings rising above the allowed £6,000.

Some of these payments were “of quite large amounts” which took him “way over the threshold”, the court was told this week. “At one stage, he had capital of just over £33,000 which he did not disclose,” prosecutor Glenn Anderton told the court.

READ MORE UK faces half term heatwave with England 'hotter than Turkey' next week

The prosecutor claimed that Mingins “knew he was being dishonest”. Duncan Campbell, defending, said: “This wasn’t a fraudulent claim from the outset. The claim was properly made. We’re dealing with a failure to notify changes. It started with a pension payment from an insurance company.”

He said his client was caring for his unwell mother at the time. Defending, Mr Campbell also said Mr Mingins showed genuine remorse for his actions and has already been made to repay the overpaid sum from the DWP after breaching the threshold.

Mingins must complete a 12-month community order with 300 hours of unpaid work after the judge handed down a sentence this week. He must also pay £85 costs and a £114 victim surcharge, the court heard, after being prosecuted by the DWP.

Mr Mingins claimed that he had never had money before and thought it “would be nice to have some”. The total amount overpaid was £10,673, the court heard.