Woman Facing Prison Time After Updating Her Facebook Relationship Status

A mother from Dundee, who has claimed some £30,000 in benefits, could now be facing prison time as a court heard she lied about her 'single mother' status following a Facebook relationship update.  Thirty-seven-year-old Denise Lonie faced the Dundee Sheriff Court this week after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) received information that she was not a single mother, as she had claimed. The Dundee Sheriff Court heard that Ms. Lonie had informed the DWP that she had split from her partner and father of her children, Graeme Heatherwick, and was living as a single mother. However the court heard that the investigation revealed that Ms. Lonie was still living with Mr. Heatherwick and the pair were taking regular family holidays and sharing household expenses. It was said that for more than four years she hid the relationship from the council so that she could claim Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Dundee Sheriff Court where the case was heard. Fiscal depute Nicola Gillespie told the court: "Checks were then done on her Facebook account which showed her as in a relationship with him.

‘There were photos of holidays taken, and comments by him with her saying things like 'sitting on the patio with the missus.' He was interviewed by the DWP and said he lived with her and their two children."

Ms. Lonie pleaded guilty on indictment to a charge of being knowingly concerned in a fraudulent activity with a view to obtaining tax credits to which she was not entitled.