Samuel Bennett, his wife Patricia and daughter Danielle deceived the state for more than a decade, a court heard
A family who falsely claimed £226,000 in benefits over the course of a decade and spent it on NINE luxury holidays abroad have been jailed.
A judge described the case of Samuel Bennett, his wife Patricia and daughter Danielle as the worst he had seen in 30 years.
The pair, both 64, claimed they were so ill they could barely walk a few yards without falling over.
Danielle, 30, maintained she was also infirm and needed 24-hour care, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Their scam went undetected for more than ten years between 2002 and 2012.
But Department for Work and Pensions investigators eventually caught up with the family and realised they had no apparent health problems whatsoever.
Undercover footage showed Danielle diving into swimming pools, pulling a child on a suitcase and working as a beautician.
Other evidence showed Samuel and Patricia embarking on nine luxury holidays to destinations including Australia,the Caribbean and three visit to America.
Patricia was also filmed carrying heavy shopping and hoovering a car.
Old claim forms were found with notes written on them such as: “Just make it worse – think how this would sound”, and “Use this one (disability), we’ve used that one before”.
Danielle, from Everton, came up with a number of supposed illnesses she was suffering including systemic sclorosis, poly arthritis, Raynaud’s disease, psoriasis, Sjorgram syndrome and depression.
Samuel, from West derby, said he had heart problems, depression and asthma whilst his wife claimed to have arthritis, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome and a hiatus hernia.
Samuel Bennett fraudulently obtained benefits amounting to £47,163 over a ten year period, Patricia £70,377 and Danielle £108,614 for a total of £226,000.
Danielle, 30, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, Samuel to nine months, and Patricia to 27 months.
Sentencing them at Liverpool Crown Court Judge Denis Watson, QC, said: "In almost 30 years of my experience of the criminal courts this is the worst example of benefit fraud that I have personally had to deal with.
"You regarded the funds of the DWP, as it now is, as funds for your personal use.
"You employed repeated and blatant lies to obtain significant amounts of money."
