A mother carried on claiming benefits for more than a year after her child was taken away from her.
Toni Hodgson, 25, who once appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show, had her child taken into care two days after being born.
But she carried on claiming child tax credits, totalling £3,500, for the child she was not allowed to look after.
Combined with income support and housing benefits, she fraudulently claimed £11,004 of tax payers’ money.
Geoff Ellis, prosecuting, told Hull Magistrates’ Court: ‘The defendant claimed income support, housing benefits and child tax credit on the grounds of being a lone parent with one child.
‘She accepted the benefits on the basis that if any changes occurred she would notify them. That included the situation of a child being taken into care.’
Toni Hodgson, 25, who once appeared on the Jeremy Kyle Show, had her child taken into care two days after he was born
Hodgson, of Coltman Street, west Hull, had confessed to going out late at night, where she would become mixed in with other drug users.
She admitted one count of knowingly being concerned in the fraudulent payment of tax credits and two counts of dishonestly failing to notify a change in her circumstances.
While she was claiming the benefits she was not entitled to, she made an explosive appearance on the Jeremy Kyle Show in November 2014, in an episode captioned: ‘Daughters at War: Today I’ll prove I’m their father!’
It featured a man proclaiming to be her father, which sparked a furious rant from Hodgson, who came onto the stage hurling abuse and him and her sister.
Mr Ellis said: ‘Crown evidence showed she failed to declare the change in circumstances when the child had to be taken into care by the local authority.
‘At that point, two days after his birth, her responsibility as mother ceased. She had a full opportunity to declare this change to HMRC but she did not.’
Combined with income support and housing benefits, she fraudulently claimed £11,004 of tax payers’ money
The court was also told Hodgson had the opportunity to notify the Department of Work and Pensions about changes to her income support but again failed to.
Her defence solicitor, Ben Hibbert, said even if Hodgson had told the council her child had been taken into care, alternative benefits including Employment and Support Allowance would have amounted to the same as what she received.
She pleaded guilty on this basis and Mr Hibbert said: ‘She has been engaging with Renew for drug misuse, and began using heroin some time after her child was born and taken into care.
‘She is looking to move into new accommodation, and is certainly going in the right direction at the moment.
‘If you factor out the housing benefit and income support, which she would have received in other means, it leaves a total overpayment from the child tax credit of just under £3,500.’
Hodgson was handed a 12-month community order, which included a 12-week curfew banning her from leaving her home between 7pm and 7am.
She was also ordered to complete a rehabilitation requirement with the probation service, and ordered to pay costs of £310 and a victim surcharge of £85.
Her solicitor had recommended a curfew to stop her slipping back into going out late and associating with the wrong people. A pre-sentence report was requested by magistrates ahead of sentencing.
It said: ‘She has become involved in a lifestyle of taking and using heroin.
‘That is something she wants to break away from*she is engaging well with groups including Renew, and is doing so on a voluntary basis.
‘That does concern us a bit, as if she decided to disengage, she would obviously not have that support.’