A land-owning benefit fraudster is being forced to sell his house to pay more than £27,000 in compensation to welfare bosses.
Ian Dick didn’t tell benefits bosses that he had split from his wife, Patricia, despite making a joint claim with her for income support.
He then failed to tell the Department for Work and Pensions that he had received a £30,000 sum from the Railway Pension Scheme, or that he was getting regular pension payments.
As a result, he was paid a total of £35,560 in income support between July 2007 and August 2012 which included payments to cover the interest on his mortgage.
But despite the huge amount, a sheriff told Dick he would not face a prison sentence because his was a case where his life was “a mess” rather than being an outright “benefit cheat”.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard Dick has put his house and a piece of land valued at £100,000 up for sale to pay the cash back.
Depute fiscal Vicki Bell told the court: “In 2007 he made a claim for income support jointly with his wife.
“However, he failed to later inform the DWP that his wife was no longer living with him.
“He also failed to inform them that he had received a pension lump sum of £30,464.72.”
Dick, 63, of Brambletye, St Fillans, Crieff, pleaded guilty on indictment to two charges under the Social Security Administration Act.
Jonathan Campbell, defending, said: “His wife moved out for a trial period and he just didn’t accept it was permanent.
“He was previously made bankrupt and as far as the lump sum goes half went to the Accountant in Bankruptcy, and most of the rest was used to pay family debts.”
Mr Campbell added: “It is difficult to say how long the sale of the property will take but he hopes to be complete in three to six months.
“His property is valued at £230,000 and the land at £100,000.”
Sheriff Alistair Brown imposed a compensation order in the amount of £27,458.12 on Dick.
He ordered the cash be recovered by “civil diligence”.
Sheriff Brown added: “That means the sheriff clerk can use any method required to recover the money, including forcing a sale at a value he deems appropriate.”
The sheriff earlier said: “So-called benefit cheats are the subject of significant publicity campaigns and tend to focus on people claiming benefits but still working.
“That kind of case is in the minority that come before this court most involve a mess in the background of a failure to comply.”