A BENEFITS cheat who stole more than £100,000 over the course of 12 years has been spared jail.

Linda Brown, of Cuddesdon Way, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, fraudulently claimed income support, employment and support allowance, council tax benefit and housing benefit from September 1, 2004, until April 4, 2016.

The 60-year old had originally placed a legitimate claim with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Oxford City Council as early as 2002, claiming the benefits on the basis that she was the sole occupant of her home.

But she was eventually rumbled in 2016 when it was discovered she had been living with her partner, Kevin Crawford, who was employed and earning more than £20,000 a year, since September 2004.

Despite requests to update her information she failed to tell the council or the DWP that anything had changed and continued to pocket the money.

At her sentencing at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday for the four counts, it was revealed she had accrued a total of £109,186.34 – split between £51,510.61 from the DWP and £57,675.73 from the council.

Brown fraudulently claimed income support from the DWP between July 31, 2005, and October 9, 2012, for 375 weeks, before this was renamed employment support allowance, which she claimed for a further 178 weeks between October 10, 2012, and March 9, 2016.

From Oxford City Council she claimed council tax benefit between September 1, 2004, and March 13, 2013, and housing benefit between September 6, 2004, and April 4, 2016.

In 2015 she she was telephoned with a query about her status and the continued stream of benefits she was receiving but she flatly denied any change to her circumstances.

However when the case came to Oxford Magistrates' Court she pleaded guilty to the charges.

In mitigation, Ronan McCann, defending, told the court his client had a been under immense pressure at the time and had been acting as a carer for her parents throughout what was described as a difficult time.

He said: "Life simply overtook them both. Miss Brown described her mindset throughout this period as one of utter chaos.

"Your honour is well aware of individuals who will enjoy the finer things in life because of dishonest claims.

"This is not an individual known to have indulged in any of these luxuries. She has never been on a plane or travelled outside of the country."

A history of mental illness and depression was also revealed to the court as was the fact she was an agoraphobic – an anxiety-related condition.

Brown was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months.