A mum who fraudulently claimed over £42,000 in benefits while having an affair with her landlord was today told by a sheriff she will be spared jail .
Jennifer Aitken, 39, falsely claimed from South Lanarkshire Council between October 2012 and April 2018.
Aitken told the DWP that she originally needed support but it had “snowballed.”
She broke the law by not telling the council on her application that she had two children with her landlord, Archie Durie.
Aitken pleaded guilty in November at Glasgow Sheriff Court to embezzling housing benefit of £42,874.85.
She failed to appear at her last sentence date and a doctor’s letter was sent regarding her recent ill health.
Aitken was told by Sheriff Andrew Cubie that she won’t go to jail.
He said: “This is a case where I can impose a custodial sentence but what I will do, when you are fit, is to impose a period of unpaid work."
Aitken shouted to Sheriff Cubie: “Thank you so much.”
Lawyer, Linda Findlay, told the court that Aitken still lives at the flat owned by Mr Durie “rent free.”
The court heard Aitken lied on her benefits application form when it came to a question about her relationship with her landlord.
She denied having a relationship or children with Durie.
The DWP received a “tip-off” that the accused was living with "her partner named Archie Durie" and they investigated.
Aitken when interviewed denied any knowledge of the fraud.
Prosecutor Lauren McRobert said: “Aitken later admitted to having an affair with her landlord and that he was the father of her sons.
“She said she needed support and then it snowballed.
“She said he did not live there at the time and had another family."
Aitken was informed that she shouldn’t have claimed housing benefit based on her background.
She was re-assessed by the DWP and lost her housing benefits due to the relationship with Durie.
Aitken, from Cambuslang , was bailed meantime for further background reports and will be sentenced in March.
