Benefits cheat spent £120k of your money on cinema trips and takeaways - but avoids jail

A benefits cheat who spent more than £120,000 of taxpayer cash on cinema trips and takeaways has avoided jail.

Casey Webb, 45, claimed her children enjoyed a “slightly better standard of living” thanks to the money she acquired through frequently claiming benefits.

The mother splurged the ill-gotten cash on "treating" her family to “perhaps one too many cinema visits or takeaways”, a Colchester court was told.

Between November 2011 and March 2025, Webb fraudulently claimed £106,937 in housing benefits and £11,238 in Universal Credit.

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Webb gained access to the tax cash after submitted fake tenancy agreements and rent receipts to appear as if she was renting a separate annex from her parents' landlord, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said.

However, investigators did not uncover any evidence that the 45-year-old had paid rent, with the landlord later verifying that the documents she submitted were fake.

Webb, of Braintree Road in Terling, was sentenced to 32 months in prison - suspended for three years.

She was also ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work and 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days.

Dingle Clark, defending, said it was "rather sad" that someone "who has otherwise led a blameless life appears in the Crown Court for a serious matter".

He added: “She has never had anything as serious as a parking ticket or road traffic matter before. Yet now she faces this serious matter.

"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.

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“She treated them perhaps to one too many cinema visits or takeaways, but miles away from the deliberate scheming to obtain benefits.”

Recorder Edward Renvoize said the mother “may not realise just how close” she came to seeing the inside of a cell.

He described Webb's offending as “serious, sustained and pre-meditated”, but accepted 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”.

The judge acknowledged she also played a "major" role in her elderly mother's care.

The 45-year-old previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud by false representation - but later admitted to the offences.

Transformation Minister Andrew Western 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.”

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