Benefits thief mother jailed despite effect on children
A benefit cheat's claims that her children would be left to fend for themselves if she went to prison has cut no ice with a judge who had warned her to make arrangements for them. Mother-of-six Hayley Jean Brookes, who had received a staggering £135,000 in benefits to which she was not entitled , was jailed for 18 months by the judge at Warwick Crown Court. Brookes, 39, from Polesworth, had denied failing to notify the Department of Work and Pensions of a change in circumstances when she had started living with someone who she then married. She also denied five charges of making false representations to obtain various benefits totalling £135,514 between May 2005 and January 2011. But she was found guilty of all six charges following a three-day trial at Coventry Crown Court last month. Brookes was warned by Judge Sylvia de Bertodano to make arrangements for the children, aged from ten to 19, when the case was adjourned for a pre-sentence report. During the trial the jury heard that...