A WIDOW fraudulently claimed almost £30,000 in benefits after her husband died and her new partner moved in.

Sharon Few lost her first husband to cancer but carried on claiming about £100 a week in widowed parent’s benefit while living with and eventually marrying another man.

The 40-year-old was given a suspended jail sentence at Oxford Crown Court yesterday having earlier admitted two counts of failing to notify the Department for Work and Pensions of a change in her circumstances. Mum-of-two Few, of Finham Brook, Didcot, has been paying back the £28,275.19p of ill-gotten money at £50 a month since September.

At that rate she will have worked off the debt in about 47 years.

Prosecutor Peter Thomas-Pedder said Few began receiving widowed parent’s benefit in June 2003 after her first husband, and father of her eldest child, died in March that year. But when her new partner, who was in full-time employment, moved in to her home in October 2004 she failed to declare it.

The pair went on to marry in May 2008, but Few carried on claiming the benefit until July 2010.

Lucy Ffrench, defending, said the couple currently had debts of £25,000 and mortgage arrears of £5,800.

She said Few works three days a week as a carer for adults with disabilities.

Mrs Ffrench told the court her client was initially unsure how her daughter would react to her new relationship and feared it would not last.

She said: “She can only say her motivation (for the benefit fraud) was a combination of that anxiety about the longevity of that relationship and a strong desire to compensate her daughter for the loss of her father.”

A Proceeds of Crime Act hearing is set to take place in August to try to recover more of the lost money.

Mr Thomas-Pedder said Few’s £234,500 house, which has £134,920 outstanding on the mortgage, could potentially be used to foot the bill.

Recorder Malcolm Davis-White gave Few a 12-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a year’s supervision and 150 hours’ unpaid work.

He said: “This is a very serious matter that, on the face of it, has gone on for very nearly six years.

“On the other hand, I do take into account your personal circumstances.”