A 50-year-old Strabane man who falsely claimed thousands in housing benefits over a two year period but later paid back the money has been fined £500 at Strabane Magistrate's Court.
Charles Britton, Gortileck Road, pleaded guilty to dishonestly claiming housing benefit to the sum of £7,314.96 from February 2004 until October 2006.
The court heard that Britton had filled out a renewal form with his wife on the 23rd of February
2004 and stated that there had been no changes in his circumstances despite having savings in excess of £18,000 that he did not declare.
Britton was interviewed twice under caution by the Housing Executive and he admitted to receiving benefits unlawfully.
However Britton's solicitor said his client had been under the impression that he was entitled to housing benefit as he was in receipt of incapacity benefits.
"Once my client realised that he was not entitled to housing benefits he made arrangements with the Housing Executive to repay the amount in full from his savings account," he said.
'Upfront'
He added: "He was quite upfront during the interview and he did not try to hide his savings, rather he brought all of his paperwork in with him to the interview."
RM McNally fined Britton £500 for dishonestly claiming benefits.
The full article contains 219 words and appears in Journal Friday newspaper.
