A benefit fraudster who pretended to be single to claim more than £40,000 was found out after posting pictures of her wedding and honeymoon on Facebook.
Judith Blackmore claimed she was single and had no money or savings and that she was in a shared tenancy with a man who turned out to be her partner and future husband.
Hull Crown Court heard Blackmore, 64, declined to mention her marriage as she ‘wasn’t asked about it’ and had debts from her new horsebox refurbishment business.
Holly Thompson, prosecuting, told the court: ‘The DWP made inquiries into her social media profiles.’
Her Facebook page showed she had been in a relationship with the man since 2013.
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‘Photographs from her profile showed a wedding reception as well as a honeymoon,’ Ms Thompson added.
The court heard Blackmore had over-claimed a total of £44,415 – £40,023 of which was on universal credit, plus a £4,392 council tax discount.
She admitted to charges of fraud by failing to disclose information to both East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Department of Work and Pensions between 2018 and 2024.
Ms Thompson said Blackmore had declined to mention she had a partner despite claiming universal credit on the basis she was single.
When interviewed, Blackmore initially admitted she had been living together with her future husband for many years, but denied they were in a relationship for all that time.
But she agreed that she should have notified DWP in 2018 that she had a partner.
An investigation found Blackmore had reported she had moved to an address in Beverley and updated her housing costs.
Bank statements showed the couple were financially interdependent, with the partner transferring £96,000 into Blackmore’s accounts and her moving £73,000 into his.
The pair had presented themselves to their landlord as a couple when they began their tenancy, the court heard.
A search of Blackmore’s social media showed Facebook posts featuring photos of the couple’s wedding and subsequent honeymoon.
A marriage certificate confirmed the couple had tied the knot in May 2024.
Julia Baggs, defending Blackmore, said she was ‘very, very sorry’ for her ‘entirely dishonest conduct’.
‘It is something that she has let spiral out of control and she feels a deep sense of shame’, she said.
Blackmore was given a 16-month suspended sentence and a requirement to complete 120 hours of unpaid work.
Recorder Richard Wright, sentencing, said: ‘You persisted in deliberately obtaining money which you knew full well you were not entitled to obtain.
‘That money was not, of course, free money. It comes from hardworking taxpayers to provide a safety net.
Over a persistent period of time, you were stealing something in the region of £44,000 – a significant sum of money.
‘This was a case of multiple false declarations over a considerable period of time. I accept that you are ashamed and remorseful.’
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