A corrupt DWP official who stole more than £25,000 of welfare handouts to pay off her drug dealer has been spared jail after arguing she needed to be at home to look after her six-year-old daughter.
Mother-of-one Hayley Powell, 43, from Golborne, near Warrington, illictly diverted Universal Credit payments intended for claimants into her own bank account after getting in debt with her cocaine habit.
Powel, who worked as an administrative case manager for the Ashton-Makerfield office in Wigan, Greater Manchester, filched shortfalls in benefit credits and forwarded them on to herself during the 14-month scam.
She also diverted payments into the bank account of a close friend, 46-year old struggling single father-of-one Jonathan Duffy - even demanding a 'cut' of his proceeds.
At Bolton Crown Court, Powell faced up to three years in prison after she admitted fraud by abuse of position but was sentenced to 16 months jail suspended for 18 months. She was also ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work.
The judge, Recorder Alexandra Simmonds, told Powell she had only escaped jail because her six-year-old daughter, with whom she lives, would have been forced to move house and school to stay with her father.
Hayley Powell, 43, from Golborne, near Warrington, was sentenced to 16 months jail suspended for 18 months after she diverted Universal Credit payments intended for claimants into her own bank account
The DWP official also diverted payments into the bank account of close friend Jonathan Duffy (pictured outside court with Powell)
The court heard the scam took place between October 2018 and December 2019 whilst Powell was working for the DWP in Ashton-in-Makerfield.
On each occasion Powell would fake forms giving reasons to explain why the money was not going into the accounts of genuine claimants. She also exaggerated her own dire financial straits to pocket extra child care allowances.
Powell later admitted she needed the money because she still had debts from a cocaine habit which she managed to kick in 2018.
She claimed her dealers had been vandalising her home, made threats and demanded money.
Sentencing Powell, Miss Simmonds said: 'In short over a 14 month period you received universal credit to which you were not entitled and abused your position of trust as an employee of the DWP to divert money intended for genuine claimants and you made up reasons for the change in the system to cover your tracks.
'There must have been some planning involved to identify potential universal credit accounts to steal from and then make up justifications for changes in payments for them on the system.
'There will inevitably have been some distress and potential hardship to the true recipients of these payments. Their funds would have been delayed because you syphoned them off before they got there.
'You also got your friend involved in criminality which he wouldn't otherwise have got involved in. You even demanded a cut from the fraudulent payments made to him.
'But you are the main carer for your six-year-old daughter - she lives with you and I have considerable regard as to the likely significant impact on her.
'If you went to prison, she would be required to leave her family home and reside with her father and change schools. The upheaval it would cause to her, means I can suspend the sentence.
'You could have no
