Staffordshire Mum-of-four charged with over £81,000 of benefit fraud

A Staffordshire mum-of-four, who had been receiving a disability living allowance, has been charged with benefit fraud after holiday pictures revealed that she had been snorkelling whilst on holiday with her Husband.

 58 year-old, Linda Hoey, had claimed around £81,000 in disability benefits, suggesting that her degenerative arthritis and severe back problems left her with extremely limited overall mobility, and was progressively getting worse.

 Whilst photos had revealed that Hoey had been able to enjoy a snorkelling excursion whilst on holiday with her husband, other also showed her playing pool, and even altering her daughter’s wedding dress whilst on sat on her knees.

 It had also been revealed that Hoey maintained a full-time job for 17 years with Cannock based company, PartsWorld, ending her employment in 2014.

 Hoey’s claims included over £65,000 in Disability Living Allowance, and around £15,000 in M6 toll charges, avoided through the use of her disability car.

 It was also discovered that Hoey’s husband also gave up his job to become her official carer, and launched a business from home to accommodate this.

 Witnesses, including Hoey’s former employer Stewart Halstead, noted that there had been no indication that Hoey maintained such difficulties or health issues, and she had never required a stick when walking.

 Following a tip-off, officers from the Department for Work and Pensions conducted a home visit, where they found additional photos to suggest that Hoey’s claim had been false.

They noted that she seemed to have little difficulty in walking down the stairs to answer the door, and also found that the house had not been appropriately adapted to support someone with such a disability.

 Further investigation by the Department for Work and Pensions found that Hoey also maintained a local gym membership and enjoyed regular badminton and swimming lessons.

Anthony Curtin, who led the prosecution, concluded that,

“You have some health issues, but you exaggerated the impact on your daily life because you know what you have to say to get disability living allowance.”

 When questioned in court, Hoey made the following comments:

“I have not been dishonest. My mobility has got worse. I cannot walk without severe discomfort but perhaps I could have explained things a lot better on the forms I filled in.”

After being found guilty, Hoey is adamant to make it known that she has been wrongly convicted, claiming that previous medical advice suggested that measures such as swimming lessons would have improved her condition.

Speaking to the Tamworth Herald, Hoey stated that “I have gone by their rules and have been assessed for it, my medical records can’t lie.”

“For mobility allowance, one criteria is that you have to be ‘virtually unable to walk’, but the last sentence of that phrase is ‘without severe discomfort.’ First thing in the morning it does take me a minute to walk three feet, it takes me three hours to loosen up every day.”

 Hoey was found guilty of misrepresenting her benefit claim between 2001 and 2015 and misusing an exemption pass for the M6 Toll Road between 2004 and 2015, in July 2017. She was bailed and is currently awaiting sentencing in September.

Contact our team of benefit fraud solicitors for help and advice for cases such as this on, 0117 314 6400.