Benefits cheat avoids custody after £24,000 overpayment claims, Leeds Crown Court hears

Tracey Caborn failed to tell the Department for Work and Pensions about a windfall she received, a sum of cash from an inheritance that would have affected her claims for employment support allowance.

The 57-year-old appeared in court having previously admitted an offence of failing to inform the authorities of a change in circumstances. She has no previous convictions.

She overclaimed by £24,696 between February 2020 and October 2022. An undisclosed amount of inheritance was left to her which exceeded the £16,000 threshold for affecting her claims.

Caborn, of Lisheen Avenue, Castleford, had also enjoyed “some extravagance” with “frivolous spending” in that time, the court heard.

A probation report into Caborn found that she had suffered several family bereavements and was struggling, having been diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Sign up now to get the latest headlines and breaking stories from Leeds and the surrounding areas delivered straight to your inbox, with the YEP’s free newsletter

Mitigating on her behalf, Mark Foley said that she “desperately needs help” but no further details were provided after the judge said he would not lock her up, despite the offence crossing the custody threshold.

Judge Christopher Batty told her: “I can’t imagine what you have been through in the past few years. Such family members to whom you were so closely tied to, to have lost them all is just dreadful. I’m not sending you to custody.”

He gave her a 20-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered her to complete 10 rehabilitation days. A timetable has been set under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), to recoup the money, for later in the year.