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A Ramsey woman who was overpaid more than £20,000 in benefits she wasn't entitled to has been handed a suspended prison sentence. 

 

28-year-old Sharon Thomas made a number of fraudulent claims for additional support between March 2013 and September 2015. 

 

She later pleaded guilty to eight offences of making false representations to obtain benefits - the total overpayment was said to be £20,453.15 pence. 

 

At Douglas Courthouse last week her advocate said she knew what she'd done was "wrong" but she'd stopped claiming the money "well before the authorities caught up with her". 

 

Sentencing her Deputy High Bailiff Jayne Hughes said it was a "significant" amount of money which could have been spent on people who actually needed it. 

 

She handed her a 16-week suspended sentence and ordered her to pay court costs of £50 - the court was told Thomas is repaying the overpayment directly to the Treasury. 

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