A benefits cheat who lied about her multiple sclerosis (MS) to claim more than £20,000 was caught after competing in scores of running events and sharing them on social media.
Sara Morris, 50, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2005 but in 2020 she exaggerated the extent of her condition and claimed Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
The mother-of-three inflated the severity of her MS and also claimed to be so anxious when she left the house that even a trip to the pharmacy to collect her medication left her in tears.
She had also claimed that she lacked balance, and was unable to get out of her bath nor stand at her cooker.
Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard she failed to mention to the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) that she was in fact a member of the Stone Master Marathoners and regularly ran 5km and 10km races.
She was caught out by her own Facebook posts of her running.
Morris, of Walton Way, Stone, was overpaid £20,528.83 between October 20, 2020 and April 25, 2023.
She pleaded guilty to dishonestly making a false statement to obtain a benefit and was jailed for eight months last July. During her court case, she accepted that her application “crossed over into the realms of dishonesty”.
She ended up serving nine weeks in total and recently reappeared at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court for a Proceeds of Crime hearing.
Judge Graeme Smith was told Morris benefited from her criminality by £22,386.02 and the available amount was £60,000. He ordered Morris to repay £22,386.02 within 28 days or serve nine months in prison in default.
