Lorraine Elise Dawbarn [2019] EWCA Crim 998

The appellant was sentenced to 16 weeks’ imprisonment on two charges of making dishonest representations for obtaining benefit. The benefits were claimed on the basis that she had severe limitations to her movement and needing substantial help with her daily care. She was investigated and seen helping her husband with building works and carrying out normal day-to-day activities, on a visit to the house it was noted there were no adaptations and the carers room had been turned into an office. In interview she said he ability to perform the acts were down to sheer temper and use of steroids.

It was accepted that this was not a fraud from the start, and she admitted fraud over an eight-and-a-half-year period with a benefit figure of £27,777.92, this was on the basis half the time she was entitled to claim and half she was not.
She was sentenced on the basis she fell into the B4 category with a starting point of 30 weeks, with a 20% discount for plea and a “very substantial” reduction of one-third for personal mitigation to reach 16 weeks.

Held: the judge took too low a starting figure (it should have been 36 weeks) and he should have made a reduction for her personal mitigation before applying a reduction for guilty plea. The offences were so serious that only immediate custody was appropriate. The need for deterrent sentences in case of benefit fraud, especially where the conduct spans a substantial period, is only too obvious. The appeal was dismissed.