A benefits cheat who conned the Department of Work Work and Pensions out of thousands of pounds has been given nearly 20 years to pay the money back.
Ann Bobmanuel will be almost 80 years old by the time she has paid the full sum back, a court was told today.
Bobmanuel was claiming more benefit than she was entitled to during a period when she claimed smoking cannabis had helped her mobility.
Sheriff Keith O'Mahoney said: "She is making repayments, but by my calculation these repayments will take the rest of her life.
"There is simply no scope for any further financial measure to be set up against her, because it would be setting her up to fail.
"This is clearly a serious matter. It is a fraud and requires to be marked by the court. I recognise that you clearly do suffer from a disability.
"There was a period of improvement of your mobility which you failed to notify. You have started making repayments, albeit small, to the sum which was defrauded."
Bobmanuel, 60, of Gleneagles Road, Perth, admitted conning the DWP out of £4,879 between February 22 and December 19, 2017.
She admitted failing to notify the agency of her improved mobility which meant she was not entitled to the higher rate payments she had previously been getting.
Solicitor Jamie Baxter said the benefits agency were continuing to assess his client and said: "There is a figure of 18 years for this to be repaid.
"She is a first offender and is not somebody who set out to make a fraudulent claim. She did not notify of an improvement over a short period.
"It would appear that the consumption of cannabis had an impact on her mobility and there is no doubt that for a period that improved her mobility.
"She has had medical issues all of her life. She has not been able to work for 28 years or so. She has been in the benefits system throughout that period.
"She accepts that for a period her mobility improved to the extent that she was not able to meet the criteria for the high level of payment."
Bobmanuel was placed on a community payback order and ordered to attend the One Stop Women's Learning programme.
