A South Australian woman has been been handed a suspended sentence after she was caught posing as a bushfire victim to defraud charities.
Sarah Treloar, from the Adelaide suburb of Elizabeth, falsely made the claim after the devastating Cudlee Creek bushfires in order to obtain donated money and goods from bushfire relief organisations.
Last week, she pleaded guilty to three counts of deception and one count of attempted deception, and was today given a four-week suspended jail sentence.
In total, Treloar dishonestly received more than $400 in money, clothes, Christmas presents and boxes of food donated by the public.
She also deceived a checkout attendant who paid for her groceries and gave her $50 after she told him she had lost everything in the fires.
The court heard Treloar, 36, claimed to be living in a domestic violence shelter that had burned down in order to obtain the money but, at the time, she was living in a caravan on her parents' Murray Bridge property.
She is the sole carer for her two children, and is now undergoing treatment for mental health issues, and had previously been a victim of domestic violence.
Magistrate Paul Bennett acknowledged Treloar’s difficult circumstances.
"At the time this occurred, and still now, you were living with the physical, mental and financial consequences of domestic violence," he said.
"You were in a difficult situation but that does not excuse falsely pretending to be a victim of the Cudlee Creek bushfires."
The magistrate said her crimes were more serious than their monetary value.
"You dishonestly took advantage of that help," he said.
Magistrate Bennett said he hoped a suspended sentence would deter others from deceiving relief charities in the future.
Treloar will remain on a good behaviour bond for nine months.
