A father-of-one who continued to claim benefits despite receiving a £70,000 insurance pay-out after his wife's tragic death has escaped with a fine from magistrates.

For 41 weeks Avtar Singh Bhatt received benefits to which he was not entitled and illegally obtained more than £4,000.

Paul Milner, prosecuting on behalf of the Department of Social Security, told Bradford magistrates that Bhatt had legitimately been claiming income support for his family since 1997, but following his wife's death in March 1998 he received insurance payments in excess of £70,000.

"Although the circumstances in which he came into possession of that money were tragic your worships will be aware that he was not entitled to benefits with that sort of money,'' said Mr Milner.

After the department became aware of the death of Bhatt's wife he was questioned about his benefit claim, but denied any deliberate fraud.

Mr Milner revealed that following his first interview Bhatt had repaid the department the full amount of £4,051.97 which he had been overpaid.

Last month Bhatt, 46, of Rylstone Gardens, Bradford, pleaded guilty to three sample charges of making a false representation to obtain benefits and yesterday he was fined £1,000 with £75 costs.

His solicitor Ashok Khullar described the circumstances surrounding the offence as "harrowing'' and said his client was extremely distraught and upset following his wife's death.

He said Bhatt had been a hard-working man until he developed a spinal problem and the family's situation got worse when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.

She was eventually admitted to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest and died there.

Mr Khullar said Bhatt fully accepted that he did not tell the DSS about the change in his finances, but said he became frightened about doing so the longer it went on.

"It was almost a relief to him at the end of the day when the matter was discovered,'' he said.

He said Bhatt was now the sole carer for his son and any prison sentence would be exacerbated by his client's own health problems.

Bench chairman Abram Durant told Bhatt that the courts treated such offences seriously.

"Custody is always high on the agenda,'' he said. "We have read carefully the reports about you and listened carefully to what Mr Khullar has said on your behalf.

"We are impressed by your early guilty plea and the quick way in which the repayment was made.''

Bhatt indicated that he could pay the fine and costs within 14 days.

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