ianstone
10-07-2010, 01:21 PM
Traveller swindled £31,000 in benefits to send his children to private school
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 5:24 PM on 7th October 2010
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318585/Traveller-swindled-31-000-benefits-send-children-private-school.html)
A traveller who fraudulently claimed £31,000 of benefits while sending his children to exclusive private schools was today jailed for 18 months.
Matthew Newland drove a luxury BMW and shelled out £10,000 a year to put his daughter through prep school.
His two sons were also sent to an elite school costing £7,000 each per annum.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318585-0B8482CE000005DC-386_468x400.jpg Jailed: Matthew Newland had claimed a raft of benefits despite making £90,000-a-year as a roofer
Meanwhile, Newland was living in a static caravan owned by his mother-in-law and earning £90,000-a-year as a roofer despite claiming a raft of handouts.
He claimed he was unemployed, needed a hoist to get in and out of bed and into the bath and had to have a friend to help him move around.
However, investigators saw him walking around perfectly normally.
When police finally caught up with him, Newland skipped bail and fled to Australia.
He eventually returned to Britain and was arrested on arrival at Heathrow.
Newland today admitted five counts of fraud when he appeared at Guildford Crown Cour.
Judge Michael Addison heard how he had claimed incapacity benefit, disability living allowance, housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support.
In just three years, £266,000 was paid into his bank account. Not all of the claims were fraudulent.
Sentencing, Judge Addison said: 'This was a substantial benefit fraud carried on over a number of years.
'You claimed you weren't working, you had no savings and you were living alone and had no other income.
'You claimed you needed a hoist to get in and out of bed and when you needed the toilet, you needed a bath rail and a stick and a friend to assist you in your daily needs.
'All of that was quite untrue. The reality was you were working as a builder and a roofer.'
The judge refused to accept Newland's claim he had mental health problems without supporting documentation.
He jailed him for 12 months for each of the five fraud counts, to be served concurrently, and six months for failing to surrender to bail, to be served consecutively, making a total of 18 months.
Newland's wife 40-year-old Wendy had already admitted £50,000-worth of benefit fraud.
She was jailed for eight months - but was released after just six weeks.
Judge Addison today said he 'failed to see the point' of sentencing guidelines when prisoners spend so little time of the term behind bars.
The tax authorities first become interested in the Newlands after a police raid at their home in 2002, when evidence of a cannabis factory and 3,000 mobile phones stolen during an armed raid were found.
No family members were ever implicated in those matters.
However, six years later 60 officers raided the site, on a farm in Lyne, near Chertsey, Surrey, following an inquiry by the Department of Work and Pensions.
Investigators discovered that the couple's daughter attended Coworth-Flexlands prep school near Sunningdale, Berks, while their two sons went to St John's Beaumont School, near Old Windsor, Berks.
Several members of the family were arrested, including Newland and his wife.
They were charged with numerous counts of fraud, allegedly starting in 2001.
It was at this point that Newland skipped bail.
Nick Ashby, defending, told the judge his client had been imprisoned in 2006 and found it very difficult and had formed a class A drug habit.
Faced with another period behind bars for the benefit frauds, he had 'decided to abscond', he said.
Mr Ashby told the judge not all the claims had started out as fraudulent. He also raised his client's infirmity, stating that he had epilepsy and angina.
He described his client as 'a chap who, upon his release, has every intention of meaningfully contributing to society'.
'His intention is to take up work in the building trade,' he said, adding that Newland was genuinely remorseful.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318585/Traveller-swindled-31-000-benefits-send-children-private-school.html#ixzz11h7WuA85
By Daily Mail Reporter (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daily+Mail+Reporter)
Last updated at 5:24 PM on 7th October 2010
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318585/Traveller-swindled-31-000-benefits-send-children-private-school.html)
A traveller who fraudulently claimed £31,000 of benefits while sending his children to exclusive private schools was today jailed for 18 months.
Matthew Newland drove a luxury BMW and shelled out £10,000 a year to put his daughter through prep school.
His two sons were also sent to an elite school costing £7,000 each per annum.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/10/07/article-1318585-0B8482CE000005DC-386_468x400.jpg Jailed: Matthew Newland had claimed a raft of benefits despite making £90,000-a-year as a roofer
Meanwhile, Newland was living in a static caravan owned by his mother-in-law and earning £90,000-a-year as a roofer despite claiming a raft of handouts.
He claimed he was unemployed, needed a hoist to get in and out of bed and into the bath and had to have a friend to help him move around.
However, investigators saw him walking around perfectly normally.
When police finally caught up with him, Newland skipped bail and fled to Australia.
He eventually returned to Britain and was arrested on arrival at Heathrow.
Newland today admitted five counts of fraud when he appeared at Guildford Crown Cour.
Judge Michael Addison heard how he had claimed incapacity benefit, disability living allowance, housing benefit, council tax benefit and income support.
In just three years, £266,000 was paid into his bank account. Not all of the claims were fraudulent.
Sentencing, Judge Addison said: 'This was a substantial benefit fraud carried on over a number of years.
'You claimed you weren't working, you had no savings and you were living alone and had no other income.
'You claimed you needed a hoist to get in and out of bed and when you needed the toilet, you needed a bath rail and a stick and a friend to assist you in your daily needs.
'All of that was quite untrue. The reality was you were working as a builder and a roofer.'
The judge refused to accept Newland's claim he had mental health problems without supporting documentation.
He jailed him for 12 months for each of the five fraud counts, to be served concurrently, and six months for failing to surrender to bail, to be served consecutively, making a total of 18 months.
Newland's wife 40-year-old Wendy had already admitted £50,000-worth of benefit fraud.
She was jailed for eight months - but was released after just six weeks.
Judge Addison today said he 'failed to see the point' of sentencing guidelines when prisoners spend so little time of the term behind bars.
The tax authorities first become interested in the Newlands after a police raid at their home in 2002, when evidence of a cannabis factory and 3,000 mobile phones stolen during an armed raid were found.
No family members were ever implicated in those matters.
However, six years later 60 officers raided the site, on a farm in Lyne, near Chertsey, Surrey, following an inquiry by the Department of Work and Pensions.
Investigators discovered that the couple's daughter attended Coworth-Flexlands prep school near Sunningdale, Berks, while their two sons went to St John's Beaumont School, near Old Windsor, Berks.
Several members of the family were arrested, including Newland and his wife.
They were charged with numerous counts of fraud, allegedly starting in 2001.
It was at this point that Newland skipped bail.
Nick Ashby, defending, told the judge his client had been imprisoned in 2006 and found it very difficult and had formed a class A drug habit.
Faced with another period behind bars for the benefit frauds, he had 'decided to abscond', he said.
Mr Ashby told the judge not all the claims had started out as fraudulent. He also raised his client's infirmity, stating that he had epilepsy and angina.
He described his client as 'a chap who, upon his release, has every intention of meaningfully contributing to society'.
'His intention is to take up work in the building trade,' he said, adding that Newland was genuinely remorseful.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1318585/Traveller-swindled-31-000-benefits-send-children-private-school.html#ixzz11h7WuA85