A WOMAN pocketed more than £26,000 by claiming she was renting her home — when in fact she co-owned the property.

Valerie Haining lied to the council to receive housing benefit and council tax relief for more than four years.

She claimed she was a jobless rent-paying tenant when she in fact held the freehold of the home with her son, Plymouth Crown Court heard. The pair even produced a letter and a tenancy agreement purporting to be from the landlord.

A judge said that it was ‘in many respects’ a sophisticated fraud. But recorder Donald Tait said: ‘You are 56 and have significant health difficulties. It would be a pretty callous court that sentenced you to prison. That is not me.’

Haining, now living in Carmarthen in Wales, admitted two counts of dishonestly making false claims to obtain benefits in 2005 and 2006.

Mike Brown, for West Devon Borough Council, said the amount overpaid was £26,687 over about four and a half years. He added that Haining filled in forms claiming that she paid £590 a month in rent, rising to £650 a month at Anderton Court in Whitchurch.

Mr Brown said investigators spoke to a woman named as the landlady on the form and she admitted assisting with the tenancy agreement.

The court heard that Haining had no previous convictions and had been paying back £154 per month for three years.

Ed Bailey, for Haining, said: ‘What is plain is that she has learnt her lesson and is assessed as a low-risk of re-offending. She will not trouble the court again.’

He added she was on eight types of medication for a host of medical conditions and said there was a ‘mental health element’.

Mr Bailey said Haining was legitimately receiving benefit and being cared for by her 19-year-old daughter. He added she had spent three years waiting for the case to come to court.

Mr Bailey said her son was fortunate not to be in the dock himself. The court heard that their home had since been repossessed.

Recorder Tait handed Haining an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months. She must stick to an electronically-monitored curfew every night for three months and pay a £100 victim surcharge.