A newlywed bride swindled £30,000 benefits by lying that her husband ran off a month after her wedding day.
Emma Blackmore, 37, from Pembrokeshire, Wales, posed as a dumped single woman to fiddle thousands in benefits over a four-year scam.
She described her husband Wayne as a ‘traveller man’ to officials and said the marriage was over just weeks after they walked down the aisle.
But despite her bogus claims, Blackmore was living with her spouse and their child.
Emma Blackmore, 37, from Pembrokeshire, Wales, posed as a dumped single woman to fiddle thousands in benefits over a four-year scam
Blackmore claimed to be living alone, but in fact she shared a home with her husband Wayne and their young child . Pictured, the couple at a wedding with their child
The scheme was only spotted when an investigation found Wayne, 35, had blundered on Facebook by professing his love for his bride.
He even had pictures of their plush white wedding and of the couple enjoying holidays together and even going to other weddings.
The pair wed on June 16, 2012, but Emma claimed to officials from the Department of Work and Pensions to have split in July, Swansea Crown Court heard.
In December that year, Wayne posted on Facebook: ‘I love my wife all the world she is the best x x x’
Two years later, in 2014, he announced his wife’s pregnancy and posted: ‘Looks like we got a baby banger on the way.’
The court heard further checks showed Mr Blackmore’s wages were going into his wife’s bank account and his employers believed he lived at the same address as his wife.
Blackmore’s scheme was only spotted when an investigation found Wayne, 35, had blundered on Facebook by professing his love for his bride. Pictured, the couple on their wedding day
Wayne Blackmore posted on Facebook: ‘I love my wife all the world she is the best x x x’ – leading the authorities to discover his wife’s swindle. Pictured, the pair at a wedding together
Nuhu Gobir, prosecuting, said: ‘Blackmore claimed she was a single woman living alone and received £29,569 in benefits she had not been entitled to.’
Blackmore admitted six offences of fraud by failing to notify a change in her circumstances.
She was given a one-year suspended sentence and ordered to complete 20 days of rehabilitation.
Blackmore, pictured, with her husband, admitted six offences of fraud by failing to notify a change in her circumstances and was handed a one-year suspended sentence
The judge, Recorder Greg Bull, said he noted Blackmore had maintained ‘times were hard and money had been a struggle.’
But he said that was true for many people.
The court heard she was not in a position to repay any of the money.
After the case, a DWP spokesperson said: ‘Only a small minority of people try to cheat the benefits system.
‘But cases like this show how we are rooting out those who are stealing taxpayers’ money and diverting it away from the people who really need it.’