Benefit-cheat Wakefield mum who claimed she could not walk caught dancing and attending Barnsley FC matches

Swindling Nadine Hill was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week for the “sophisticated and planned” deception in which she not only claimed she was too ill to even stand, but told another department that she was fit to work in order to receive further benefits.

The cheating 55-year-old kept the pretence up for eight years until the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were tipped off and launched a covert investigation.

They found she was going to the supermarket on her own, was drinking in pubs, attended Barnsley games both home and away and was even up dancing at a working men’s club.

By that time she had illegally claimed £67, 257.

Judge Christopher Batty said it was a “fraudulent from the outset” and said Hill claimed she could “barely move”. He said she was “playing two benefits off each other - whatever suited to get public money”.

The court heard that Hill, of Kinsley House Crescent, Fitzwilliam, first made a claim in 2014 for personal independence payments.

She maintained she could not stand for more than 30 seconds and could not look after herself, claiming she could not even “use a tin opener”, prosecutor Charlotte Noddings said.

In 2016 she claimed for further money, saying her daughter was required to look after her and she would regularly fall or slip. In 2021 she told the department she was unable to even go out.

After it was suggested she should be assessed by a doctor, she backtracked and said it would be “too painful”, in order to keep up the deception.

In early 2023, the DWP were tipped off and surveilled her, quickly discovering her brazen lies.

She later admitted fraud by false representation, and two counts of failing to disclose information to make a gain.

Mitigating, Olivia Fraser said Hill was previously a foster mum who had no previous convictions.

Judge Batty said he “did not buy a single word” of what Hill had said about her predicament. Addressing her directly, he said: “You decided to embark on a fraudulent application.

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“You refused an examination because it was far too painful because you knew it would be found out that it was nonsense.

“The DWP found out. They watched you and saw you walking around supermarkets. You were a season-ticket holder [at Barnsley] between 2016 and 2023 and attended all home games, and nine away matches.

“You were dancing at a working men’s club. Bank payments showed payments in pubs, supermarkets and football games.

“It’s sophisticated and planned. It’s just so serious. People have to understand that they can’t make these types of claims.”

He jailed her for two years. A court hearing to determine how she will repay the money owed, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, will be arranged for a later date.