joebean Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/benefit-cheat-must-carry-out-200-hours-of-unpaid-work/ It seems to me that the punishment for stealing taxpayer’s money is never a true reflection of the offence. Sometimes the statements made by the defence really need to be dismissed as ridiculous by the court. If someone has been defrauding the benefit system for 5 years, before being caught, you can’t really say it’s “out of character”. I’d say 5 years solid offending is very much an indicator of it being in character. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Non-Believer Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 Some of the repayment terms leave much to the imagination too, in respect of repayment of the amounts fraudulently claimed. £10 a week to pay back £40k...? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebean Posted October 4, 2023 Author Share Posted October 4, 2023 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Non-Believer said: Some of the repayment terms leave much to the imagination too, in respect of repayment of the amounts fraudulently claimed. £10 a week to pay back £40k...? They always do. If a person continues to be on benefits, their income must be just sufficient. Paying the money back is not really a realistic option. Edited October 4, 2023 by joebean Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bees Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 Awe, it happened over a 5 year period, there are far worse things going on. Life on benefits is rubbish (unless you're a drug dealer on the side, I imagine its quite lavish then) 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebean Posted October 4, 2023 Author Share Posted October 4, 2023 4 minutes ago, 2bees said: Awe, it happened over a 5 year period, there are far worse things going on. Life on benefits is rubbish (unless you're a drug dealer on the side, I imagine its quite lavish then) But it wasn’t life on benefits was it? She had income that made the benefits unnecessary. The fact that it is now being “repaid” means that the £30,000 unlawfully claimed has been spent. Not that rubbish then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barlow Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 To be fair it wasn't just the Defence, it was Deputy High Bailiff Rachael Braidwood who also said “It does appear that these offences are out of character.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2112 Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, joebean said: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/benefit-cheat-must-carry-out-200-hours-of-unpaid-work/ It seems to me that the punishment for stealing taxpayer’s money is never a true reflection of the offence. Sometimes the statements made by the defence really need to be dismissed as ridiculous by the court. If someone has been defrauding the benefit system for 5 years, before being caught, you can’t really say it’s “out of character”. I’d say 5 years solid offending is very much an indicator of it being in character. In effect an interest free loan which will take an eternity to pay back. The benefit fraudster probably is living in social housing. Yes we can condemn and no doubt there will be some socialist liberal wishy washy types defending benefit fraudsters. This type of offence is occurring all to often, and sadly, there isn’t a real deterrent or punishment which will send a signal to potential benefit fraudsters. Im sure some posters on here would love an interest free handout, and would find the money handy. Edited October 4, 2023 by 2112 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredtosser Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 She seems to have money to spend it the Courts taking injections out against people if you look at the listings, unless the tax payer is also picking that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Mexico Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 1 hour ago, joebean said: https://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/benefit-cheat-must-carry-out-200-hours-of-unpaid-work/ It seems to me that the punishment for stealing taxpayer’s money is never a true reflection of the offence. Sometimes the statements made by the defence really need to be dismissed as ridiculous by the court. If someone has been defrauding the benefit system for 5 years, before being caught, you can’t really say it’s “out of character”. I’d say 5 years solid offending is very much an indicator of it being in character. There's actually more information in the IOM Newspaper's report, which explains what were some of the puzzling features in the Manx Radio one. The £10 is to pay off the Court costs, she's already paying pack the amount at £30 a week. As with many cases the claim wasn't fraudulent to start with, It also looks as it she was working and declaring that she was working during the time as the overpayment was on Employed Person's Allowance. It was additional income from maintenance payments (those may have been irregular) and other side jobs that seem to have been undeclared. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred the shred Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 The black economy has always been alive and well on the Island with regard to dodging tax but claiming benefits you are not entitled to is on another level completely. Doing a foreigner or mates rates or a favour with a cash thank you has always been around. These benefit fraudsters seem to get off lightly of course there is always the name and shame aspect which lasts for 100 years on the Island if you are local. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WTF Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 37 minutes ago, fredtosser said: She seems to have money to spend it the Courts taking injections out against people if you look at the listings, unless the tax payer is also picking that up. are injections like injunctions but for drug addicts ? 😁 1 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeliX Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 If people got half as worked up about real problems as they do about someone overclaiming a few grand a year in benefits that'd be nice. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeteroErectus Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, 2112 said: In effect an interest free loan which will take an eternity to pay back. The benefit fraudster probably is living in social housing. Yes we can condemn and no doubt there will be some socialist liberal wishy washy types defending benefit fraudsters. This type of offence is occurring all to often, and sadly, there isn’t a real deterrent or punishment which will send a signal to potential benefit fraudsters. Im sure some posters on here would love an interest free handout, and would find the money handy. The rules encourage these behaviours. Who knows how big the benefit system abuse actually is?? https://www.gov.im/media/1378953/pink-book-2023-24-v14-for-website.pdf Also, the 23/24 pink paper appears to show a total amount £279m of income tax received, but £325m of welfare/benefits payments. Big chunk of that is pensions of course. £38m of income support. Which (if my pickled brain can still do mathematics) means ~14% of our income tax. (passing no comment on this being/not being money well spent. No guess on what % of IS is paid unnecessarily) Edited October 4, 2023 by HeteroErectus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Voice of Reason Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, HeliX said: If people got half as worked up about real problems as they do about someone overclaiming a few grand a year in benefits that'd be nice. Overclaiming, or fraudulently claiming benefits is a real problem. Edited October 4, 2023 by The Voice of Reason 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barlow Posted October 4, 2023 Share Posted October 4, 2023 1 hour ago, HeliX said: If people got half as worked up about real problems as they do about someone overclaiming a few grand a year in benefits that'd be nice. It's still £30,000 no matter how you dress it up - hey, how about try "only a couple of cups of Starbucks coffee a day?" You maintain a similar stance of there being "only a handful of immigrants arriving in the UK arriving by boat". 40,000-50,000 per year "just a handful" ? These matters of course may not be life threatening but I am curious as to what the real problems are you perceive 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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