A MOTHER from Deeside who wrongly claimed more than £130,000 in benefits has been spared a prison sentence after a judge accepted her plea that she was needed to care for her children’s special needs.

Jennie Andrews wept in the Mold Crown Court dock as Judge Niclas Parry told her her pleas for mercy had been accepted because of the special circumstances surrounding her children.

Sentencing her to two years in custody, suspended for two years, the judge told her: “This is an exceptional case...where the court should exercise mercy.”

He said he was satisfied the needs of innocent children would make a custodial sentence inappropriate.

The court heard that over an eight-year period between 2008 and 2016 Andrews received income support, housing benefit and, for a shorter period, council tax benefit while she was cohabiting with the father of her three children.

Prosecutor Ffion Tomos said the loss to the public purse had been £130,989, but the precise figure for the overpayment could not be calculated because Andrews’ partner, who was self-employed,had made no tax and NI contributions.

Andrews, 34, of Howard Street, Connah’s Quay, admitted two charges of benefit fraud, but was convicted of a third and appeared for sentencing at Mold Crown Court.

She misled Flintshire Council and the Department for Work and Pensions as to her living arrangements after she was initially paid income support and housing benefit from 2005 because of her low income and that she was a lone parent with caring responsibilities.

Andrews failed to notify the authorities of a change in her circumstances when her partner moved in.

When interviewed, she initially denied he lived with her and said they were just friends. She said she had not mentioned it because she was afraid her benefits would be reduced.

Robin Boag, defending, outlined the heavy domestic commitments faced by Andrews, who cared for an autistic child, while an older son’s behavioural problems had meant he had been placed at a residential school.

If she were to go to prison then the younger son would be forced to go attend school in Manchester and live with her father, Mr Boag said.

“On a positive level the way she has sought to cope with what life has presented her is to her great credit. Some people would have just given up,” he said.

“Yes, she has behaved badly and cost a lot of money, but to her credit she has repaid some of that at £1,500 a year.

"At least it is some effort to repay something back.”

Judge Parry, who also ordered Andrews complete 200 hours of unpaid work and stick by a five-month curfew, said the aggravating features were the length of time over which the fraud was carried out and her previous similar conviction.

The court heard Andrews received a conditional discharge for making false representation to obtain benefit in 2002.

But the judge added: “In your favour this claim wasn’t fraudulent at the outset. And there is no evidence of a lavish lifestyle or luxurious spending.”