A WOMAN is facing jail over a benefit fraud amounting to more than £80,000.

Gillian Edwards has admitted she did not tell the authorities she was living with another man while she claimed Widow Marriage Allowance and Widow’s Pension between 2002 and 2014.

The 62-year-old, of Fordwell Road, Stockton, will be sentenced at Teesside Crown Court next month once a background report has been prepared by a probation officer.

She tearfully pleaded guilty to two charges of dishonestly failing to notify a change in her circumstances when she appeared in front of the Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC.

The judge gave her bail until the next appearance on March 12, and told Edwards: “There will be no promises by me or the court as to what the sentence will be.

“It will be a sentence of imprisonment. Whether it can be suspended may well depend on what Mr Bousfield [her lawyer] says on your behalf, or what the Probation Service say on your behalf.”

Alex Bousfield, defending, told the court: “It is clearly a substantial amount of money – near enough £81,000. I would hope to try to be able to persuade the court to suspend the custodial sentence in this case.

“She has no previous convictions. The money can be repaid in the adjournment period. There are some assets. I hope it will make a significant difference.”