A WOMAN who continued claiming benefits, despite working for her husband’s courier company, must pay £19,373 as proceeds of crime.

The order was made against 57-year-old Joan Dodds, of Eden Terrace, Stanley, at Durham Crown Court today (Thursday May 26).

It follows her conviction for failing to declare a change in circumstances affecting her entitlement to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), following a trial before magistrates last year.

Dodds was overpaid an estimated £18,499 after failing to declare the change, over three-and-a-half years, before the situation came to the attention of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The court heard she should have declared her condition had improved, affecting her right to the allowance or to the level she was receiving.

Nicholas Rooke, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing, at the crown court, in October, that Dodds, of previous good character, was in receipt of DLA for six years, on the grounds she needed help to move around and for personal care.

But Mr Rooke said she failed to declare a change in circumstances when her physical condition improved and she began self-employed work, assisting in a courier company run by her husband, in October, 2010.

It involved her travelling “considerable distances” without support or aids, which Mr Rooke described as, “beyond the capabilities of a severely disabled person.”

She received an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, and, following a Proceeds of Crime inquiry into her means, she was today (Thursday May 26) ordered to pay £19,373, including £873 interest on the original over-payment.

She has three months to pay the amount or risk a nine-month prison sentence, in default.