Leicester mum made nearly £7,000 of false benfits claims

A mother who cheated the state of out nearly £7,000 of housing benefits she was not entitled to has been given a suspended jail sentence.

Memory Musiyiwa (35) began claiming legitimately in 2008, but later failed to notify Leicester City Council when she became a student.

She kept quiet about taking up a place at Derby University to study occupational therapy, with a student loan amounting to £5,946-a-year, on top of a three-year NHS bursary of £41,597.

Those funds were paid into a separate bank account that the council knew nothing about, said Kate Rogers, prosecuting.

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She said: "It wasn't fraudulent from the outset but the prosecution say it was dishonest, rather than a misunderstanding."

Musiyiwa, a mother-of-two, of Empire Road, Newfoundpool, Leicester, admitted failing to notify a change in circumstances and two counts of dishonestly making a false statement to obtain housing benefit totalling £6,795, between September 2009 and February 2012.

She was given an eight-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, with supervision.

Sentencing her at Leicester Crown Court, Judge Simon Hammond said: "You've come very close to going to prison."

Nathan Palmer, mitigating, said Musiyiwa completed her university course before obtaining employment with Leicester City Council.