A disabled musician and competitive surfer who exaggerated her suffering in a £14,000 benefits scam has been handed a 12-month community order.
October Hamlyn-Wright, 36, claimed she was “virtually unable to walk and needed full-time care” to collect a higher rate of benefits, but posted videos and pictures online of her musical and sporting activities around the world.
Department for Work and Pensions investigators put her under surveillance as they suspected she was hiding the true nature of her disability, Kingston crown court heard.
Hamlyn-Wright, from New Malden, denied two counts of benefit fraud.
She was convicted of one charge between 2015 and 2017 and acquitted of an earlier count. Judge Georgina Kent also ordered 10 days of rehabilitation.
The DWP will reclaim the money paid out through fraud in deductions to Hamlyn-Wright’s future benefits.
