A 41-YEAR-OLD woman has been sentenced to a 12 month community order for her role in a Tax Credits scam.

Alena Benakova, of Wilmer Road, Heaton, Bradford, wept in the dock at Bradford Crown Court today as prosecutor Clare Walsh said she had fleeced the taxpayer out of £6,000.

Benakova, a Slovakian national, is one of several women to plead guilty to their involvement in the major scam. She was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

Mrs Walsh told the court the Crown accepted that others, not before the court, played a role in the fraud.

"Investigators accept that there are other people involved and the investigation is ongoing," she said.

Benakova's barrister, Peter Hampton, said her co-accused had received community orders when they were sentenced last month.

His client was paying back the money she owed.