Eurovision star avoids jail after £52,000 tax credit fraud

Gemma Abbey, who was half of the Eurovision singing duo Jemini, pleaded guilty last month to submitting false tax credit claims worth more than £52,000.

The Liverpudlian narrowly avoided prison and was instead sentenced to 30 weeks custody suspended for 12 months and a 12-month supervision order. Abbey had been claiming tax credits as the single mother of a nine-year-old daughter with a serious medical condition, but was exposed when officials uncovered pictures of her wedding on social media to Sean Creighton. The pictures were originally explained as being of a “blessing ceremony” rather than a wedding despite the evidently bridal dress in the pictures.

Gemma Creighton-Abbey’s semi-detached house in Liverpool was searched as part of the investigation, which revealed serious debt issues as well as bank statements. They court heard how neighbours knew that Creighton-Abbey had been living with husband Sean Creighton since 2010, but that she had not informed authorities as she considered the relationship to be “rocky”.

The defence painted a picture of Abbey-Creighton as being a struggling mother who was owed back-payments of child maintenance, had been battling depression and periodic alcohol abuse. The judge was told of Creighton-Abbey’s previous good character and charity work with under-privileged children and was asked to spare her from a custodial sentence.

It was evident from the defence that Jemma Abbey-Creighton was struggling with many facets of her life and that she feared that losing those additional tax credits would see her fall further into debt and depression.

In 2003, Abbey competed in Eurovision for the United Kingdom alongside Chris Cromby. The duo, known as “Jemini”, travelled to Latvia to sing their song “Cry Baby”, but they failed to impress the judges and became the first British Eurovision entry in 47 years to score ‘nul points’. She has since only made a handful of television appearances.

The Department for Work and Pensions who brought the prosecution announced after the trial “People pretending to live alone to get benefits is one of the most common types of benefit fraud, and this case shows our investigators are bringing criminals to justice.”