A MATURE student who claimed more than £20,000 in benefits while collecting a grant for her studies has been spared jail because of her children.
Wberi Edil, 27, had told welfare officers that she did not have an income, despite receiving a student loan and a higher education grant.
Between November 2007 and June 2009, the Thames Valley University student claimed more than £20,000 in housing benefits.
Edil, of Repton Avenue, Hayes, admitted four charges of failing to notify Hillingdon Council of a change in circumstances, and two charges of making a false representation, when she appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Friday, January 27.
Magistrates told her they regarded the prolonged nature of the fraud as an aggravating feature, but decided against a custodial sentence because Edil has young children.
For each offence she was sentenced to three months’ jail, suspended for two years, and 150 hours of unpaid work.
