Eurovision singer found guilty of benefits scam

Gemma Abbey, half of Eurovision band Jemini, has been convicted of fiddling £67,570 in benefits, after her online wedding photos gave her away.

Mother falsely claimed benefits to pay for second home

The singer, now known as Gemma Creighton-Abbey, scored 'nul points' in the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest along with fellow Liverpudlian Chris Cromby for their performance of 'Cry Baby' in Riga, Latvia. It was the UK's worst result in its 47 years of taking part.

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However, following a court hearing in Liverpool, the Eurovision failure is probably not Creighton-Abbey's worst ever embarrassment - as she has now been given a 30-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, plus a one-year supervision order. She will also have to pay back the fraudulent benefits over time.

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Since April 2009, Liverpool Crown Court heard, Creighton-Abbey had been claiming tax credits as a single mother, and was also getting extra help because of her younger daughter's medical condition.

And when she married Sean Creighton in the Algarve in 2013 she failed to report the change to her circumstances, continuing to claim tax credits as a single parent.

The amount she got was bumped up even further because she wrongly told HMRC that she was receiving the higher rate care component of Disability Living Allowance because of her daughter's condition.

As a result, she was overpaid tax credits to the tune of £67,570.

"Most people claiming benefits are honest, but there are the unscrupulous minority who cheat taxpayers' money out of our welfare system and divert it away from those who really need it," a Department for Work and Pensions spokesman tells the Liverpool Echo.

"People pretending to live alone to get benefits is one of the most common types of benefit fraud, and this case shows our investigators are bringing criminals to justice."

According to government figures, under 2% of the UK's benefits spending is claimed fraudulently. However, it's not always the poorest that cheat.

This summer, for example, Caroline Banana, who won £95,000 on the Channel 4 game show, Deal or No Deal, was caught claiming £5,000 in benefits after failing to tell the DWP about her win.

In January last year, TV and radio presenter Ann Salter was caught out after posting her CV online. It listed jobs from radio presenting to helping host car launches, despite her claims that depression had left her unable to work.

And in 2014, former GMTV presenter Louise Port was found guilty of fraudulently claiming £75,000 in housing benefits after failing to mention that she had a £87,000 stake in another property in London's Docklands.