Benefits cheat mother-of-three who stole £120,000 of taxpayers' cash to pay for 'cinema visits and takeaways' smirks as she avoids prison

By LETTICE BROMOVSKY, NEWS REPORTER Published: 11:40, 25 June 2026 | Updated: 11:47, 25 June 2026 A benefits cheat who pocketed more than £120,000 of taxpayers' money to fund what a court heard were extra 'cinema visits or takeaways' for her children smirked as she walked free from court after narrowly avoiding prison. Mother-of-three Casey Webb, 45, smiled as she left court on Tuesday, lit a cigarette and embraced a loved one after being handed a suspended jail sentence for a fraud that spanned almost 14 years. The convicted fraudster had falsely claimed more than £120,000 in benefits by submitting forged tenancy agreements and fake rent receipts, a court heard. Despite describing the offending as 'serious, sustained and pre-meditated', Recorder Edward Renvoize spared Webb an immediate prison sentence, warning her she had come perilously close to being locked up. Directly addressing Webb, he said: 'You may not realise just how close you came to going through that door to prison. I'm persuaded that you are somebody who will not offend again.' Webb, from Terling, fraudulently claimed Housing Benefit and Universal Credit between November 2011 and March 2025. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said she received £108,937 in Housing Benefit and a further £11,238 in Universal Credit after falsely claiming she was renting a separate annex from her parents' landlord. Investigators later discovered there was no evidence Webb had paid any rent, while the landlord confirmed the tenancy agreements and receipts used to support her claims had been forged. A hearing at Colchester Crown Court was told Webb initially denied two counts of fraud by false representation before later changing her pleas. Mother-of-three Casey Webb, 45, smiled as she left court on Tuesday The convicted fraudster had falsely claimed more than £120,000 in benefits by submitting forged tenancy agreements and fake rent receipts, a court heard Her barrister, Dingle Clark, argued the case was far removed from the stereotypical image of a benefits cheat funding an extravagant lifestyle. He said: 'It's always rather sad when someone aged 45 who has otherwise led a blameless life appears in the crown court for a serious matter.  'She has never had anything as serious as a parking ticket or road traffic matter before. Yet now she faces this serious matter.' He added: 'She accepts that she was not entitled to the benefit but it's not one of those cases where there are cars or holidays or fine clothes. It's quite clear that she did not lead a luxurious lifestyle of any type.  'The money was mainly used to raise her children. She treated them perhaps to one too many cinema visits or takeaways, but miles away from the deliberate scheming to obtain benefits.' The court heard Webb, who has no previous convictions, also plays a 'major role' in caring for her mother. Sentencing, Recorder Renvoize accepted that the money 'was not used to fund a lavish lifestyle but to provide for your children a slightly better standard of living than they might otherwise have had'. He also described Webb as posing a 'low risk' of offending again. Webb was sentenced to 32 months' imprisonment, suspended for three years. She was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days. Following the case, Minister for Transformation Andrew Western issued a stark warning to would-be fraudsters. He said: 'The message is clear - don't think you can steal from hardworking taxpayers. Whatever your reasons for committing benefit fraud, know that our investigators are wise to every trick in the book and we will find you. And if you know somebody is fleecing the system, report it.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.