A WOMAN who falsely claimed more than £50,000 in benefits has been spared jail despite a judge admitting she was never likely to pay the money back.

Umira Khan, 39, appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court to admit two charges of dishonestly making false statements to obtain payments and a charge of failing to notify the authorities of a change of circumstances affecting her entitlement to the money.

The offences took place between January 2008 and December 2014, and involved overpayment by the Department for Work and Pensions of employment and support allowance, housing benefit, council tax, and incapacity benefit.

Prosecutor Richard Davies told the court that the total amount involved in the case was £52,131.

He said Khan, of Stuart Court, Swarland Grove, Bradford, had failed to notify the authorities once she started working for Elizabeth Arden.

In mitigation, her solicitor Kevin Walker said his client had left her family home in 2008 to escape from domestic violence and being forced into an arranged marriage.

He said she had set up home with her sister, and used the benefits to supplement her income from working for 12 hours a week.

He told the court the money had been used mainly to pay bills, and that there was no indication Khan used it to “live the high life.”

The court also heard that Khan. who sat in the dock with her head bowed throughout yesterday’s hearing, was “very remorseful” of her actions and was currently on medication for depression and various chronic medical conditions.

She had no previous convictions on her record.

Mr Davies said that Khan had no financial assets worth pursuing, but that the money was being clawed back at a rate of £20 per month.

District Judge Richard Clews said that at that rate, repaying the money would take Khan 216 years.

He told her that her fraud had equated to claiming around £150 a week over a seven-year period.

“The amount of money you obtained from the public purse that you weren’t entitled to was £52,000,” he said.

“That public purse is stretched as it is, and needs to be kept for people who genuinely need it.

“You will never be able to pay all of this off.”

Khan was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and given a four-month curfew from 9pm to 7am.

She was ordered to complete a 30-day medium-level activity requirement and told to pay an £80 surcharge and £85 costs.

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